Guillaume Geneste & Alexandre de Mortemart
Quick Silver 3

  • France
  • fr
  • en
  • 26'
Guillaume Geneste & Alexandre de Mortemart｜Quick Silver 3
Trailer Try 7 days free

Synopsis

This film series takes us inside the darkroom of Guillaume Geneste, a Paris-based master of analog printing. Like a magician of chemistry, he works with light and contrast, the density of a black or the subtle tone of a color. There is something mesmerising about the ritualistic-like gestures he uses for the dodging and burning of the print, where his hands dance through the enlarger's beam to modulate exposure in specific areas of the image. Photographers come and go, watching their prints come to life on paper. Each of them brings their own approach to analog photography, with specific criteria and needs. Every episode captures a unique printing journey. Today we meet Alexandre de Mortemart, who has brought the negatives from a reportage he did in Calcutta. While other photographers just drop by and choose their prints, Alexandre de Mortemart likes to stay in the darkroom throughout the process, chatting with Guillaume Geneste, recounting the background to his series, discussing his approach to the medium and trying his hand at retouching.

What you will find in this film

The magic of analog printing • the shamanic gestures of dodging and burning • the importance of a broad picture • the guardian of photographers’ secrets • knowing when to stop

Keywords

Photography Careers The Darkroom Masters Analogue Photography The Artist at Work
Even when you reach the end, after four or five prints, you always come back to the overall picture. Whereas in digital photography, if you build your image based on details, you will always think that the next detail is the solution. Here, we had worked on different parts of the image to get the best possible result, but in the end we came back to the whole, which lacked a little contrast.
For me, you are one of those photographers who previews what they are photographing a lot.
Denis Roche said: there are two things photographers hate, the word ‘chance’ and the word ‘unconscious’, because it proves that they do not master their subject.

Documentaries about photography, and about the people who make it. 
You can try it free for 7 days.

What you’ll find

Portraits of photographers, names everyone knows and others you’ll discover here. Films about street photography, war, fashion or portraiture, about printing and historical processes. About the trades of photography too. And then suggestions for going further, with Focuses, articles, interviews, bibliographies.

A small independent team

Documentaries about photography were rarely shown on television, and hardly at all on streaming platforms. We created The Darkroom Rumour to give them a place of their own. We are a small team, and we choose every film ourselves, with no school to defend.

Inspire your photography

In these films, you see photographers at work, in the field as well as in the darkroom. If you take pictures, you’ll often come away with an idea to try. If you simply like looking at images, you may start to see them differently.

How it works 

You can watch the films online, anywhere in the world, on a computer, tablet or phone, and on TV by mirroring your phone’s or computer’s screen. Every film is available in French and English, with no ads. New releases come out on Saturday or Sunday. The trial lasts 7 days, and if you stop before day 8, you pay nothing.

The Darkroom Rumour on a TV, a computer, a tablet and a phone
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The authors/artists

Guillaume Geneste
Guillaume Geneste
Printer
Alexandre de Mortemart
Alexandre de Mortemart
Photographer
Henri Herré
Henri Herré
Film director

Further exploration

Selected bibliography

• Guillaume Geneste, Le tirage à mains nues, Lamaindonne, 2020. Publisher · Libraries

• Guillaume Geneste, Tout autour de la photographie, Lamaindonne, 2023. Publisher · Libraries

Online

• Guillaume Geneste : « La photographie est un leurre qui vous fait croire qu'elle peut arrêter le temps », Marie Richeux, podcast, France Culture, 2020 (in French).

• Laboratoire La Chambre Noire, website (in French).