Sustainable Photography
Plant-based developers and photography as material practice. Reconnecting the photographic process with the rhythms of nature.
How we make an image is part of what the image means
The Sustainable Practices explore the tactile and ecological dimensions of photography. Working with plant-based developers (nettles, rosemary, pine needles, natural salts) reconnects photographic making with the material world.
Beyond technical skill, this practice cultivates awareness of photography's material and ethical footprint. It is a philosophical position: that the materials we choose and the processes we follow are as significant as the final image.
As old as photography itself
The ecological practice of sustainable photography is not a contemporary invention imposed on an old medium. It is a return to the material logic of photography's origins.
Fox Talbot's salted paper prints
The earliest photographic processes were plant-adjacent, material, and non-toxic by necessity. Silver salts and sunlight. Paper and chemistry drawn from the natural world.
Anna Atkins' cyanotypes
Iron salts and UV light. Atkins documented botanical specimens using a photographic process that was itself botanical in spirit. The medium and the subject were one.
Local plants. Natural materials. Real chemistry.
Every developer is sourced, prepared, and tested by hand. The recipes adapt to what grows locally and what the season provides.
Plant-based developers
Nettles, coffee, rosemary, pine needles, and more. Each plant produces different tonal qualities. The recipe is part of the artistic decision.
Local sourcing
Swiss-specific and seasonal. What grows nearby becomes what develops the image. A practice rooted in place and time.
Physical results
Prints and film with unique tonal character. Each developer leaves its signature. The material process is visible in the final image.
Learn by making
Hands-on workshops from a single session to a multi-day intensive. Each combines the historical grounding of Zero Baseline with the material practice of sustainable developing.
One-day Introduction
A one-day introduction to sustainable darkroom processes using plant-based developers. Participants explore analogue developing and printing techniques through experimental, nature-based practices.
Three-day Workshop
Explore analogue black-and-white photography through sustainable darkroom processes. This three-day workshop introduces camera-based practice, film development, and experimental plant-based developing techniques.
Multi-day Intensive
An intensive exploration of analogue photography and sustainable darkroom techniques. Participants engage with photographic theory, camera-based practice, film development, printing, and experimental plant-based developers through an extended hands-on process.
A growing network
Sustainable Photography practitioners worldwide. Access points, shared knowledge, and a community of like-minded people exploring photography's material possibilities.
Curiosolab
Mexico
Sustainable Darkroom
London
Stratégies Obliques
Geneva