Analog Color Darkroom (RA-4 Process), Color as a Creative Process

This workshop is dedicated to analog color printing in the RA-4 process as a craft-based and creative field of practice. It is aimed at photographers and ambitious autodidacts who wish to consciously bring color into the darkroom and develop a deeper understanding of color effect, materiality, and image-making decisions. At its core is intensive hands-on work, from negative to finished print combined with a precise technical foundation and a trained eye for color.

At the beginning, the participants’ submitted works are reviewed together. The group discusses which images are suitable for enlargement, which negatives are technically viable, and what potential they hold for color printing. On this basis, an introduction to materials and process follows: the characteristics of common color films, paper, and chemistry in the RA-4 process are explained, as is the importance of consistent baseline settings on the enlarger to ensure reproducible results.

A central focus of the workshop is the exploration of color and skin tones. Through targeted tests, participants examine how skin appears in the print, how white areas are perceived, and when deliberate color biasing can be meaningful. The use of preflash is introduced as a creative tool and tested in practice. Comparative tests, first without, then with calibrated preflash, foster a nuanced understanding of how color is built and how small interventions can have a significant impact.

As the workshop progresses, precise exposure and filter work come to the fore. Participants learn to apply color filters systematically, to control color casts deliberately, and to carry decisions through consistently. At the same time, space is left for unexpected outcomes: if visually compelling deviations emerge during the process, they may be intentionally retained.

At the conclusion, the resulting works are viewed and reflected upon together. Decisions, experiences, and results are contextualized and discussed, serving as a considered closing to an intensive, focused working process in the analog color darkroom.

Rachel Israela is a freelance portrait and fashion photographer based in Berlin and Mexico City. Her work is characterised by a calm, cinematic visual language and a strong conceptual approach, often embracing analogue photographic processes. Since 2020 she has collaborated with Fede Reyes as the photographic duo Studio Reyes & Israela, producing projects that blend fashion, portraiture, and documentary sensibilities.