Analoges Labor Color (RA4-Prozess)

Bringing colour into the lab – workshop with Nikolaus Brade

Photographer Nikolaus Brade has been working in analogue photo labs for thirty years and we are delighted that we have been able to recruit an artist with so much experience for the colour lab workshop. This workshop is aimed at photographers and ambitious autodidacts who want to make colour prints in the RA-4 process and get to know the fascinating world of colour photography in practice. Previous knowledge from the analogue b/w lab is helpful, but not a prerequisite for participation in the workshop.

At the beginning of the event, Nikolaus Brade will go into the basic knowledge of analogue photography required for working in the lab, also explaining the differences to the B/W darkroom. This will be followed by a colour materials course on film, paper and chemistry, which will bring participants up to date with the latest products available on the market.

After a short break, the equipment and tools for professional work in the darkroom will be presented – such as enlargers, enlarging frames, the various dodgers and post-exposure masks or the grain focus adjuster. The work processes are demonstrated in the light, the workshop participants can familiarise themselves with the equipment and are advised and accompanied by Nikolaus Brade when setting up their workstations. After a test demonstrated by him, which includes all processes, the results and possible corrections of filter values are discussed together.

The first test strips are then exposed and analysed together. Nikolaus Brade then assists with the individual processing of the images, advises the workshop participants on the exact colour matching if several prints are to be produced and shows how the results can be optimised using aids.

Nikolaus Brade graduated in communication design from the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design in Halle in 2002. He has been active as a photographer for decades, working on freelance projects and commissions for subjects ranging from portraits to architecture. Since 2016, he has been teaching the basics of photography at the UdK Berlin for the Design degree programme.

You can find out more about him on his website:
www.nikolausbrade.de/