Analog photography – a passion that has become UNESCO heritage.
Analog photography UNESCO heritage
Daniel
With great joy and pride, I share the extraordinary news – analog photography was officially inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2025. This unique recognition highlights the immense significance of traditional photographic techniques in the development of culture, art, and the history of our civilization.
For me, as an analog photography enthusiast, this event holds a personal dimension. For over five years, I have been running my own darkroom, where I continuously develop my skills and deepen my knowledge of both classic techniques and the history of photography. Working with photosensitive material, manually developing negatives, creating prints – all these activities provide me with incomparable creative satisfaction and a connection to a multi-generational tradition.
Analog photography is not just a technique – it is a culture, art, and a way of seeing the world. In an era of ubiquitous digitization, more and more people are rediscovering the magic of film, the nobility of emulsions, and the uniqueness of hand-made prints. It is fascinating that something so "analog" can still inspire new generations and gain increasing recognition in the cultural world.
The inscription of analog photography on the UNESCO Cultural Heritage list is, for me, a symbolic tribute to all those who have nurtured and developed this field over the years. I feel honored to be a part of it and, through my daily work – in the darkroom, with the camera, with people – to contribute to the preservation of this heritage.
od 1826
The history of analog photography dates back to the first half of the 19th century. In 1826, Joseph Nicéphore Niépce created the first permanent photograph – "View from the Window at Le Gras" – using the heliographic technique, which required several hours of exposure. A few years later, Louis Daguerre developed daguerreotype, followed by other groundbreaking inventions such as paper negatives by William Henry Fox Talbot, and slightly later, wet collodion – a technique that revolutionized photography at the time with its exceptional sharpness and shorter exposure time.
Over the decades, photography developed rapidly – from glass plates, through roll films, to small format cameras, which revolutionized the accessibility and popularity of this form of expression. Darkroom techniques, such as chemical development, masking, and double exposure, became an art form in their own right.
Dziś
In today's world, analog photography is experiencing a true revival. Although it was once considered a "relic of the past," more and more creators—both professionals and amateurs—are choosing analog cameras as a conscious aesthetic, artistic, and philosophical choice.
Both 35mm SLRs, medium format, and historical techniques such as wet collodion, cyanotype, gum bichromate, and noble processes are used. Some artists independently coat glass plates with light-sensitive emulsion, reconstructing 19th-century processes, while others experiment with modified cameras and proprietary chemicals.
For laypeople, analog photography is often associated with film, black and white photos, an old camera from grandpa's closet, and a mysterious darkroom where "something is developed." But for a growing number of people, it is also a form of relaxation, contact with material, and sometimes even a ritual.
Over the years, some of the most iconic photographs in history have been created using analog techniques:
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"Migrant Mother" by Dorothea Lange – a symbol of the Great Depression in the USA (1936),
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"Napalm Girl" by Nick Ut – one of the most powerful images of the Vietnam War (1972),
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"Afghan Girl" by Steve McCurry – a portrait that became a symbol of refugee plight (1984).
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"Blue Marble" – a photograph of the entire Earth taken by the Apollo 17 crew (1972)
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"Tank Man" / "Unknown Rebel", Tiananmen Square – This iconic photo depicts an unknown man standing alone in front of a column of tanks in Tiananmen Square in Beijing, 1989. Jeff Widener (1989)
All these images share one thing—they were taken on film and developed using traditional methods. Even though the world has changed, analog photography still tells stories—perhaps not as sharp as digital ones, but full of soul, detail, and light.
I, my humble self
Below I present selected analog photographs — the results of work done using classic photographic techniques. All photographs were created in the darkroom, on photosensitive paper, using traditional processes such as enlarging from a negative and cyanotype. This is a record of my fascination with the analog medium, the manual creative process, and the unique aesthetics of old photography.