Berlin Photo Studio · Intern

Mila

Documenting life, learning by doing and holding on to memories.

Childhood photograph of Mila being held up against the sky

Photography as memory

Small moments deserve a place to stay.

Mila is a student from Berlin. She describes photography as “just” a hobby, but it already has a clear purpose in her life: documenting what happens around her and preserving memories for herself.

Her photographs do not begin with the pressure to build a professional practice. They begin with attention—to friends, everyday life and moments that might otherwise disappear.

How it started

One school year inside the studio.

After changing schools, Mila needed to complete a year-long internship during her first year. She chose Berlin Photo Studio as the place where she wanted to spend that time.

The internship gave her a view of analogue photography from both sides: making photographs and doing the careful work that happens after a roll has been developed.

Inside the laboratory

Negatives, scans and all the work in between.

Main contribution

Cutting & scanning negatives

Most of Mila’s work focused on handling negatives, especially cutting and scanning them. She also supported the many changing everyday tasks that keep the studio moving.

Her perspective

Help where it matters

She tried to help wherever she could and shared her opinions or ideas when she felt they could improve something. Sometimes a fresh viewpoint is exactly what makes a familiar process visible again.

Camera & film

Practical enough to carry. Personal enough to remember.

Favourite camera

Olympus Superzoom 120

Mila likes it because it is small, practical and can zoom in a long way. It is easy to bring along when the purpose is to photograph life as it happens.

Film & process

BPS film · C-41 & ECN-2

She does not have one favourite film stock. During her internship year she mostly used film made by Berlin Photo Studio and was happy with the results. She mainly photographs in colour, using C-41 and sometimes ECN-2 processing.

What changed

The studio opened the door to analogue photography.

Berlin Photo Studio gave Mila the opportunity to begin shooting film. The team and the creative environment became an important source of inspiration while she learned how images move from camera to negative to scan.

In the future, she would like to keep learning about photography and creating more memories with the team.

Quick questions

About Mila at the studio.

What did Mila do at Berlin Photo Studio?

During her year-long internship, Mila mainly cut and scanned negatives and helped with the varied everyday tasks of the analogue laboratory.

Which analogue camera does Mila use?

Her favourite camera is the Olympus Superzoom 120 because it is small, practical and has a useful zoom range.

Which film-development processes does Mila use?

She mainly photographs with colour film processed in C-41 and occasionally shoots film developed in ECN-2.

What does Mila most enjoy photographing?

She uses film to document her life and preserve personal memories.

Keep learning

A year can become the beginning of a longer story.

Return to the About page to meet the other people behind Berlin Photo Studio, or explore the film and development processes Mila discovered during her internship.