The news that film photography is dead has yet to reach the ears of Zachary Kolden.

As proof of the continued vibrancy of the art, Kolden – a darkroom photo technician at Green River Community College – offers his display of black and white, silver gelatin prints currently on exhibit at the Auburn City Hall Gallery until the end of the month.

“People say film is dead, but it’s really not,” said Kolden, 29. “It’s just a smaller niche market now.”

Kolden, a native of Eau Claire, Wis., got his start in photography while still in middle school.

“We did pinhole stuff and I really enjoyed it,” he said. “But it wasn’t until college that I really found my niche in photography.”

While attending the University of Wisconsin Stout in Menomonie, Wis., Kolden said he fell in love with the darkroom and the art of film.

“I started at the transition from film to digital,” Kolden said. “So we had to do film, and I just remember falling in love with seeing the image come up and the chemistry involved. Just that tactile, hands-on presence really held strong with me. I think I’m just a person that gravitates toward the handmade. I just love it. I actually spend more time in the dark room than on any other assignments because I really enjoy it.

“Digital has its own thing, a look and feel,” he continued. “But film really makes you slow down when you photograph, which gives you time to think about what you’re photographing as opposed to just pointing and shooting.”

Kolden’s well-thought-out approach and painstaking, dark-room mastery are evident in his City Hall exhibit, which features images he took in Scotland.

“This body of work deals with impermanence and change,” he said. “Lately my work has been about impermanence and change. I believe that nothing in this world is ever permanent, and we’re always in this constant state of change. I could walk down that hall, go outside, come back and I’m not the same person.”

Kolden said he took 37 rolls of photographs in Scotland, focusing on the ruins, landscapes and cemeteries to illustrate the central theme of his exhibit.

Among his subjects were the ruins of St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Fife, Scotland, which was built in 1158.

“If it was still a standing cathedral, it would be the oldest in Scotland,” Kolden said. “When you look at a place like that you can just feel the amount of history and change that has gone on.”

Kolden said he’ll continue to work in film on his next series, but this time he’ll shoot in color.

“I’m actually doing a project on Tacoma entitled ‘City of Destiny,’” Kolden said. “It will be color, urban landscape stuff. I’m still shooting with a medium format camera, but I’m doing color this time to try something new. I’ve been doing black and white for a really long time now, so I think it’s time to expand a little bit. It’s a different way of seeing.”

And it’s a vision that he is more than happy to see continuing with the younger generation of students he helps at Green River.

“Believe it or not, these younger kids think (film is) cool because it’s old and they want to get into it,” he said. “There are five film classes offered, and they’re all full with 25 kids each. So it’s really good to see 125 kids into it. I’m happy there is still an interest.”

Kolden’s exhibit, along with the art of Thendara Kida-Gee, are on display at the Auburn City Hall Gallery until April 30. The gallery, at 25 W. Main St., is open from

8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and admission is free.