Helsinki Darkroom Festival 2022 was the first edition of a festival dedicated to analogue photography, organized by the Finnish Darkroom Association in spring and winter 2022. The festival brought together exhibitions, workshops, discussions, and a youth photography competition, highlighting the ongoing relevance and creative possibilities of film and darkroom practices.


The festival’s main exhibition, Impression Remains, was held from 28 January to 15 May 2022 at the Finnish Museum of Photography. Featuring eleven international photographers selected from 394 applicants, the exhibition celebrated contemporary darkroom art and explored the materiality and process of analogue photography. Works ranged from images captured with cameras to pieces created entirely through chemical processes, emphasizing the inseparable relationship between artwork and its physical creation.


Artists in Impression Remains:

Carol Golemboski (US)
Jacob Clayton (GB)
Máté Dobokay (HU)
Elodie Grethen (FR)
Galina Kurlat (RU/US)
Liam Leslie (GB)
Frank McElhinney (GB)
Iana Mizguina (FI/RU)
Marcus DeSieno (US)
Sébastien Reuze (FR)
Giorgi Shengelia (GE)


In March 2022, the festival hosted the Symposium for Artistic Research in Analog Photography in collaboration with Aalto University, fostering dialogue around analog practices in contemporary art.


The festival was supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation.