Instead of relying on others, Mani Lama (pictured) started Dark Room Creations, a professional black and white lab in Lazimpat where he works with Tanka Rai, a renowned manual processor. "Professionals who know black and white come to us. I give them very good quality work," says Lama. The devil is in the detail, especially since developing black and white film is still a manual process, right from getting the film onto the spool in the darkroom-something Lama makes his students practice repetitively-to choosing the right grade of paper for the negative.

"You can do a lot with black and white," says Lama, whose work with the medium has been lauded at several exhibitions. RK Manandhar agrees. "Black and white is my art too," he says.

Most raw materials for processing film are available in the market allowing professionals like Manandhar to mix their own solutions, removing the risk of an inept technician and getting as close to the photographer's perception as possible. He says: "Working with the grayscale and lighting gives the photograph a more artistic feel and greater tonal quality."