The tradition of analogue photography in Lithuania

Analogue photography is a nearly two‑hundred‑year‑old tradition of non‑digital image creation and printing, practiced in Lithuania and many other countries. Images are captured on light‑sensitive surfaces—film, glass plates, or photographic paper—coated with chemical substances, using mechanical cameras operated entirely by hand.

This art form is often referred to as slow photography: preparing materials and equipment, planning the creative process, and developing the image all require time and patience. Because each step is carried out manually, the resulting photographs are one of a kind or produced in very small editions. Contemporary practitioners not only use authentic nineteenth‑ and twentieth‑century devices, but also build their own equipment and apply a wide range of historical analogue techniques still in use today. Among the most widespread are the classic silver‑gelatin print, cyanotype, wet collodion, albumen and salt prints, gum bichromate printing, and others.

Continuing a long‑standing tradition, masters of analogue photography act as photochemical visual documentarians of Lithuania’s cultural life: their works capture the country’s people, cities, distinctive landscapes, and traditional celebrations. This living tradition is transmitted directly—from master to apprentice—through shared technical knowledge, exhibitions, and public educational activities. It is also nurtured within families, where photo albums passed down through generations become treasured heirlooms preserving family and local memory.

Having withstood the challenges of digitalization, the tradition of analogue photography today functions as a cultural code that connects different generations, social groups, and regions through a shared culture of image‑making and image‑reading. The contemporary community of practitioners—from professionals to amateurs—is characterised by a shared interest in producing images without digital processing. For those behind and in front of the camera alike, analogue photography offers a deeper encounter with family and national history and an opportunity to immerse themselves in a mysterious creative process.

Submission by Public Insitution Open Photography Workshop, 2025

Tradition bearers – Lithuanian professional photographers, analogue photography enthusiasts, educational, cultural, and scientific institutions, Lithuanian Photographers Association, Association “Kūrėjų sąjunga”, Lithuanian Analogue Photography Association, The Lithuanian Photographic Art Society