Darkroom Wonders

The darkroom is a small chamber of wonders where photos are created without a camera—you just need to know how. Participants will be part of this wonder and can use objects they bring with them to create their own worlds on light-sensitive paper, which they then expose and develop. These photograms have a very special charm that many artists have already recognized. Marta Hoepffner, Man Ray, and László Moholy-Nagy, for example, have created visual masterpieces using this technique.

In the workshop, participants will try out everything related to this unusual form of image production. Those who wish to do so may bring their own objects, such as leaves, feathers, foils, or toy figures. There will also be an opportunity to dive into a second artistic world, the technique of collage, using the materials created and available. Perhaps answers to the photogram will emerge? Or a translation into color? At the end, each child will take home their first camera-less photographs and the corresponding collages—each one a unique work of art.

Laura Braun is a freelance photographer and art educator. She studied art and design at Central St Martins College and photography and sociology at Goldsmiths College in London. She works both editorially and commercially, and her work has been shown in international exhibitions. In her workshops and participatory projects, she teaches and encourages critical thinking and a love of the tactile experience of photography and related techniques.

Frauke Menzinger studied literature and fine arts, followed by stage and costume design at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. She works freelance for both theater and film productions. In 2010, she took over the artistic direction of the Junior, Teens, and Perspectives education programs at the C/O Berlin Foundation.