Rehat Kathuria develops software to aid photographers who love analog photography.

Rehat Kathuria

Photography is a delicate art that meets science in the form of light, lenses, and mirrors. Light is a hothouse for atoms, which have the potential to be reflected at any angle. But in contrast with science, photography needs to be practiced by manually composing photographs and making particular choices about what you want your image to say.

This beautiful yet complicated art form is an integral part of every person's life. It provides us with moments that are relatable, vernacular windows into our lives that we can share with others, and opportunities where we feel empowered by our own creativity.

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Rehat Kathuria is a young entrepreneur with a passion for photography and software. His steps led him to develop a solution to a problem that is prevalent in the industry. This led him to launch Eff – a software start-up that helps photographers become better at what they do – and allows them to modernise analog photography. Rehat is an avid analog photographer as well and spends a chunk of his time developing silver gelatin prints produced through chemical baths in his darkroom studio.

His background in photography and software has led him to seek ways of creating better products for the photography industry. This most recent product, Emulsion, a new way of changing the conversation about analog photography.

The product, Emulsion, uses science- using machine learning, polynomial curve transformations, and custom film stock rendering profiles to bring lab-quality results to the everyday user. The Emulsion has been well received by photographers in the industry and is one of the most promising new solutions to help keep the drive alive. With no fundamental inventions in the industry for the past decade, Emulsion aims to fill that gap and bring a new way of thinking into a technically dead sector.

Darkroom studio is his sanctuary. He escapes from his busy schedule, spending productive time in his darkroom. He gets to relax, enjoy the serene atmosphere and bring life to his negatives and prints – something he has been doing since he

His journey started with a gift from his English teacher – a Praktica MTL 5. He had never used a camera before and was instantly hooked. From there, passion for analog photography grew in him. This passion soon led him to his current setup and darkroom. Rehat's dreams revolve around Eff; he hopes that he will be able to help photographers in the industry continue to practice their craft and make a living at it. With such a rapidly growing threat from digital media, companies like Eff need to provide help.

He loves to share his knowledge and experiences on photography with others; he also spends time helping other amateur photographers learn the art. He is always keen to make new friends in the industry and loves connecting with anyone who is a fellow analog photographer.