Photographers without cameras? That's a rare occurrence for the Photogenika girls – one such occasion being when we recently had the chance to try our hand at goldsmithing together at the Runde Ringe studio in Munich. For an afternoon, we swapped our cameras for hammers, Bunsen burners, files, and sandpaper to create our own silver rings under the professional guidance of Maria Haake and Michael Meinecke from Runde Ringe. It all started with a simple piece of silver for each of us. Several steps were necessary to transform these into rings: Teamwork was essential to get the material into the right shape. We hammered the silver pieces until the two ends met perfectly – which, in the end, still looked rather misshapen. To make the rings truly round, we first had to "close" them by soldering with the Bunsen burner. After further hammering, we had to remove all the imperfections and scratches from the surface of the round rings, which meant repeatedly filing and sanding. Maria and Micha from Runde Ringe were always on hand to offer advice and support. The first few hours flew by, and we'd already completed the basics. Then it was each of our turn to personalize the surface of our rings. And at this point, the choices were overwhelming: polished, matte, ice-matte, or with a hammered pattern? In the end, our team had it all! I think we all thoroughly enjoyed our day at the Runde Ringe studio and learned that goldsmithing requires a delicate touch, patience, and a love of detail – much like photography. Since we always had a camera with us, you can get a glimpse of our goldsmithing trip from the following photos! And if you're interested in goldsmithing yourself, be sure to check out Runde Ringe: http://runde-ringe.de.Yours truly, Ellena
