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This month we present a photograph by Valter Kolenc \u2013 his first entry in the members\u2019 Photo of the Month competition. In this expressive black and white study, the author depicts the dichotomy of the natural and the artificial, the ruthlessness of nature and the cruelty of human encroachment on its space. With astonishing sensitivity, Valter captures an underground world where time seemingly stands still \u2013 trapped in darkness, far from human gaze.<\/p>\n
But when a man returns to the scene of his crime, where he has blasted a deep furrow into the heart of the mountain with fire and steel, he is confronted with a bitter truth: the earth does not care about the deeds of flesh-and-blood invaders. Although it has been barely a decade since the mine closed, the wound in the mountain is already healing \u2013 drop by drop. Time flows in limestone waves and slowly, but tirelessly and eternally, heals the wound in its stone body. The ceiling of the mine hall seems to be still. But this silence and peace are only an illusion \u2013 the underground changes with every drop, full of minerals, erasing the traces of man\u2019s longing for treasures hidden in the darkness.<\/p>\n
A photograph captured using the silver gelatin technique and developed in the darkroom of the Kamnik Photo Club goes beyond its mere documentary value: it becomes a meditation on transience, silence and the raw poetics of the underworld. The silver gelatin technique is considered the foundation of black and white photography and embodies a centuries-old tradition of manual work in the darkroom. It is a process in which a light-sensitive layer of silver halides bound in gelatin is applied to photographic paper or film. This analogue method, known for its rich tonal range, subtle texture and exceptional durability, requires not only technical precision, but also a sense of light and materiality.<\/p>\n