Theme
Michael Appelt
Anders Petersen
Sally Mann

Intimate portraiture

Edito

Intimacy in photography is less a matter of physical distance than of relationships. Photographing someone close, a stranger or one’s own life means finding a position from which an image can emerge without losing sight of the person being photographed. Time, trust, familiarity and sometimes vulnerability shape both the portrait and the photographer’s choices.

Such proximity also raises essential questions. What does a portrait reveal about its subject, and what does it tell us about the person behind the camera? How does private life become artistic material?

These three documentaries approach intimate portraiture through radically different practices, where photography becomes a means of self-expression, human connection and preserving the traces of personal relationships.

  • 3 films
  • 3 h 52 min
  • Edito, 1 min read
The Good Years | Michael Appelt - cover 16:9
94’
The Good Years | Michael Appelt
Austria - 2024 de en

When self-portraiture becomes a way to stay alive.

For Michael Appelt, portraiture is rooted in a direct relationship with himself and those closest to him. His work places family, self-representation and vulnerability at the centre of the image, making intimacy both its subject and its method.

Anders Petersen | Without Longing No Image - cover 16:9
56’
Anders Petersen｜Without Longing No Image
Sweden - 2019 en en

An immersion into the daily life of a major photographer.

Anders Petersen’s work grows out of sustained contact with the people he photographs. His portraits emerge through presence and familiarity, in a constant balance between documentary observation and personal involvement.

What Remains: The Life and Work of Sally Mann - cover 16:9
80’
What Remains: The Life and Work of Sally Mann
United States - 2005 en en

An icon of American photography, a life and work that are one...

For Sally Mann, intimacy begins within her own family and immediate surroundings. Her work raises questions of proximity, consent, memory and the transformation of private life into photographic material.

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.

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Linked Articles

Further exploration

Selected bibliography

Michael Appelt | The Good Years

• Michael Appelt and Wolfgang Huber-Lang, Geburten. Sieben Möglichkeiten, ein Kind auf die Welt zu bringen, Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 2003 (in German). Libraries

Anders Petersen | Without Longing No Image

• Anders Petersen, Café Lehmitz, Schirmer/Mosel, 1978. Libraries

• Anders Petersen, Stockholm, Max Ström, 2019. Libraries

• Anders Petersen and JH Engström, From Back Home, Max Ström, 2009. Publisher · Libraries

Sally Mann | What Remains

• Sally Mann, Immediate Family, Aperture, 1992.

• Sally Mann, What Remains, Bulfinch Press, 2003. Libraries

• Sally Mann, Hold Still: A Memoir with Photographs, Little, Brown and Company, 2015. Libraries

Online

Michael Appelt | The Good Years

• Die guten Jahre (2024) by Reiner Riedler, Marina Pavido, review, Cinema Austriaco, 2024.

Anders Petersen | Without Longing No Image

• Reeperbahn rendezvous: the glorious dive bar photos of Anders Petersen, Simon Bowcock, The Guardian, 2016.

• Welcome to the Cafe Lehmitz, Sean O'Hagan, The Guardian, 2006.

Sally Mann | What Remains

• Sally Mann's Photographs of Girls on the Cusp of Adulthood, Rebecca Bengal, Aperture, 2025.

• 'I never hold back': Sally Mann on her controversial family photos and becoming a writer, Veronica Esposito, The Guardian, 2025.

Instagram

The Focuses

Check all focus