It was 1992 when I attended the first Photokina. Wow! It was busy, the big names were there and many others weren’t as we were still using film. There was so much film and print, of course with my passion being Cibachrome and E6 most of my time was checking out Durst, Jobo and almost anything related to the darkroom*.
(*Darkroom; a room that is dark! To develop and film, mostly negative, project it through an enlarger to the right size paper to make a print! Now it’s easy with Photoshop, a computer and printer – and no chemicals.)
In 1996 I was back at Photokina. I was working for Phase One running between exhibitions stands to present with Hasselblad, Mamiya, Horseman and of course Phase One. It was very, very busy everyday. The halls were full and business was booming as this was the period I call the ‘Birth of Digital Photography.’
Those heady days have now gone and of course Photokina has disappeared, although according to their website it is “suspended” until further notice.
But it’s not all doom and gloom…
PHOTOPIA Hamburg will take place at the Hamburg Exhibition Complex from 23-26th September 2021. From the website the target audience is ‘everyone’ associated with photography.
We’ll keep you posted as to the development of the show and especially how they plan to manage the trade part of the exhibition. After all this was the main focus of Photokina and we’re sure comparisons will be made.
