AgBr + Polaroids in Berlin
This was originally published in my Prime Lenses Newsletter. You can sign-up for a weekly update to your inbox here.
Last week I woke up to a message from Alvaro and Guillaume of Nuevo and Heliograph.
They were sharing the launch AgBr, a photo processing app for iOS, iPadOS and Mac. Images made on a phone or other camera are opened in the app and processed in the style of a variety of black and white analogue films. Image filters are nothing new, but as you’ll hear from the conversation I had with them both, there’s a history to the project. In the age of managed software platforms and apps, a previous black and white project Alvaro had worked on was no longer available so the pair set about making a new app. The biggest feature for me is the grain generation. The way that you can dial in density as well as push and pull the image feels great to use. The app is fast too, adjustments are made easily from options at the bottom of the screen and when you’re ready, dragging down to export makes editing feel efficient especially when you’re working with multiple images on a device like a phone.
I was lucky enough to grab them both for a few minutes on launch day and you can listen to the conversation below.
The pair are committed to releasing a new filter each month for the rest of 2025 and I got the impression from speaking to them that they’re here for a long time as well as a good time. They’re after feedback so head over and grab the app, it’s free to start. They’ve already begun making updates based on feedback, my pet feature of metadata is already in the app so step right up and make some amazing black and white pictures.
Any listeners bound for Berlin between now and the end of July should check out “Polaroid” at the city’s Museum für Fotografie. Images from a host of photographers including; Helmut Newton, Thorsten Brinkmann, Lucien Clergue, Barbara Crane, Alma Davenport, Toto Frima, Maurizio Galimberti, Luigi Ghirri, Erich Hartmann, Sally Mann, Sheila Metzner, Arnold Newman, Charles Johnstone, Marike Schuurman, Stephen Shore, Jeanloup Sieff, Pola Sieverding, Christer Strömholm, Oliviero Toscani, Ulay, William Wegman, and more. It promises to celebrate the revolutionary instant format and the way that it impacted all of photography, not just the instant kind.
