The craft of the moment.
Photographer Stefan Nöbel-Heise:
Why I have remained loyal to analog photography for decades.
Besides his work on film productions, as well as his photography and journalism, Stefan Nöbel-Heise also shoots on large-format sheet film. For many years, he has also frequently used 120 black and white roll film with his Pentacon Six TL camera. Since the mid-1980s, This was normal at the time as digital photography was still in its development, he has developed his own film and printed it onto photographic paper in his darkroom. Genuine handcraft, genuine photographs. The craft of capturing the moment: Why I have remained loyal to analog photography for decades. In a world that is constantly accelerating and in which billions of fleeting digital images are created daily, I consciously seek the antithesis. Alongside my daily work as a photographer and journalist, I have dedicated myself to a great passion since the mid-1980s: classic, analog black and white photography.
Analog photography offers something...
that the digital sensor often lacks: character, depth, and an unmistakable soul. A hand-enlarged black and white photograph has a unique tactile quality and permanence. It is a document of its time – created in the truest sense of the word. In the end, I hold a real, physical photograph in my hands. A unique piece of silver and gelatin, imbued with craftsmanship, patience, and passion. When, under the red safety light of the darkroom, the exposed photographic paper lies in the developer bath and slowly, as if from nowhere, the first contours become visible – that is a moment that still deeply fascinates me, even after all these years.
Anyone who knows me knows that a very special tool has accompanied me for decades: my Pentacon Six TL. For almost forty years, I have been shooting classic 120 roll film on this system. Every press of the shutter release is a conscious decision. You think twice, check the light, compose the shot in the waist-level viewfinder. But shooting on film is only half the journey.
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| Karl-Heine-Kanal, Leipzig, Germany |
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| Fotöbron Sverige |
The bridge over the Elster River played a crucial role in my initial foray into photography. Not only did I, as a second-year apprentice, travel across this bridge twice a day on the S-Bahn (suburban train), but it was also right here that my journey began. It was in the spring of the late 1980s when, on a Saturday morning, I decided to go to this bridge to photograph the spring floods. Although it was strictly forbidden to photograph bridges and railway lines at the time, these steel girders fascinated me, and I took detailed photos of them. The floods themselves weren't particularly interesting anymore. Apart from the fact that the strong current made it impossible to cross from one side to the other, there was practically nothing going on. I developed and enlarged the photos at home in my small darkroom. A few days later, I entered the square prints in a competition. A few weeks after that, I was invited to a meeting of the organizers. Since I had meanwhile finished another small photo series, I was able to participate in a group exhibition at short notice, received a prize and was mentioned in the newspaper. |
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Elsterbücke Leipzig
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| Railway Bridge |
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| Höganäs |
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| Jacob Böhme Haus |
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| Fotö Sverige |
Portfolio for the exhibition "Reprospective". © 2026
