Images & Text By Dirk Kultus

I started with taking digital pictures but I’ll always remember the first glimpse through the viewfinder of my first analog SLR. It was like entering another dimension and it kept me fascinated looking at the world this way.

The progress of learning and adapting the analog process, to develop film and make prints in my darkroom took several years but it changed not only my way of seeing and perceiving my environment, but also helped me to connect with my surroundings and to learn a lot about myself when interacting.

Yes, the analog process is restricting in many ways. But it enables me to connect more to the moment, the scene, the subject and helps me not bother about the result or my expectations. This all comes second and leaves the idea of perfection behind.

The moment and the feeling when pressing the shutter is the starting point of a development – not only of the film itself but also my vision of what remains a memory and what is converted into a haptic and organic monochrome interpretation of my personal perception and experience in the darkroom.

And like life itself this interpretation is subject to constant changes. The picture I see through the lens is never like the print I hold in my hands after the process. And no darkroom print of the same negative is identical. So like the moment when pressing the shutter I rebuild and relive its uniqueness when printing it, letting me embrace, appreciate and cherish the sometimes long gone moment even more. Not to remember it, but to be reminded – of how important that is.

All images and text © Dirk Kultus

Edge of Humanity Magazine

Presents

Photography & Philosophy

The freezing of a moment is a magical event. Images can make us feel love, rage and every sensation in between.

Photographers, whether partial or impartial to their subject matter, consume a massive amount of insight. Their participation cannot be substituted nor replicated. The moment is gone! The experiences will live in their minds and those encounters are immortalized in their photographs.

Edge of Humanity Magazine’s ‘Photography & Philosophy’ series will bring together the art and the mind of these fantastic creators.

If you would like to participate, please contact the editor jo@edgeofhumanity.com for more details.