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A Survey of London’s Remaining Darkrooms by Richard Nicholson
Jan 28, ’09
12:27 PM
The disappearance of the dark. (via MetaFilter)
This project, shot on 4″x5″ film, documents London’s remaining professional darkrooms. It is based on my nostalgia for a dying craft (there are no young printers). It is in these rooms that printers have worked their magic, distilling the works of photographers such as David Bailey, Anton Corbijn and Nick Knight into a recognisable ‘look’.
Specific darkroom memories I cherish:
- My teacher gazing at one of my early prints made with a glass negative carrier, shaking his head, and saying “I don’t know what kind of war you’re going to have to fight against dust, but you’d better get started.”
- Emptying a burst of compressed air into the thrice-cursed glass negative carrier every time I adjusted the negative strip, changed the negative strip, looked at the negative strip wrong, or took a breath.
- The scent of chemicals in the air.
- Mild chemical burns from the stop bath.
- The manifestation of magic as prints entered the developer.
- Leaving the darkroom at midnight to find my car under 2 feet of snow.
- Listening to This American Life while printing pictures of abandoned places and people I miss.
- Hearing the ticking of light timers in the semi-dark.
- Reaching into the paper safe and wondering if this would be the best print ever.
Anyone else?
Alphie
Jan 28, ’09
8:00 AM
Alphie the Robot used to teach me how to employ words and identify shapes and colors. There was always something satisfying in the way that row of lights responded to correct or incorrect answers — as well as the physical aspect of the lamps themselves.
(The condition of the electronics is now dubious, but it would be a candidate for circuit bending if I had more time in my schedule.)