looking for the roots of photography

“The treasure of images from the early years of the 21st century is in jeopardy, caused by heavy digital manipulation and Pictorialist trends. The classic photographic image is not dead but it is suffering badly. Digital illustration with photo-realistic 3D illustration and visualisation etc. is a direct threat to the photographic image.”

Well, these are harsh words from the founders of the group Dogma-07. They are Bengt Björkbom (you know him already from The F Blog) and Johan Ericson.

"Dogma-07", is looking for the roots of Photography. The focus is the image, not the technique. To upload pictures to this site (a section of the Swedish Fotosidan), there are some tough rules. For example:

-You may not use a flash, or any equipment that reflects the light. Only available light is permitted.
-No tripod
-Only one brand of film or one setting for digital cameras, Colour OR Black and White is allowed.
-Only basic settings in the digital camera and only one lens (for example 50mm) if it is a zoom lens you must use a single focal length. You may only use lenses with a maximum focal length of 90mm
-No cropping after exposure.
-No manipulation in Photoshop or hocus-pocus in the dark room. You may adjust contrast and colour balance but only in order to make the picture look like you remember it from the moment of exposure. Dust and dead pixels may also be removed.


You must declare what camera etc you will use for pictures to the Dogma-07 site. Here are some examples:

1. Ricoh GR-Digital II, image format 2:3
2. Equivalent to 28mm
3a. Colour (S-RGB)
3b. ISO 200
3c. Colour depth=normal, sharpness=0, contrast=normal

1. Nikon Fe
2 Nikkor 50/1.8
3. Kodak Tri-X film and D-76 developer

1.Pentax MZS
2.Pentax FA 35mm f/2 AL
3.Ilford HP5 film+ D-76 developer

So why not have a look at some Dogma-07 pictures? You will find them here. It´s a brave project and I will certainly keep an eye on their progress. /Ulf
Pictures by ©Bengt Björkbom