Manhattan NY, December 2007 © Adam Bartos and Gitterman Gallery An alchemist’s paradiseįrom its inception, the mystery and magic associated with the darkroom have attracted photographers and printers alike. The professionals intrigue and inspire everyone else, and they network together in the membership room.” It is this combination that gave her darkrooms “a buzz”. RENAINE EQUIP EMBLEM PROFESSIONALIn a spread titled Return to the Dark, Glover explains that the camaraderie and support found at Photofusion helps photographers to produce their best work: “There is still a demand in fashion and portraiture for colour and b&w photographs, so you will get professional photographers using us alongside students and local, passionate amateurs. Much like modern coworking set-ups, the public darkroom promoted interactions across generations and experience levels. While today, many think of the darkroom as a solitary space, Glover pays homage to the darkroom for the competitive spirit it fostered. This idea of the darkroom as a collaborative and communal space is echoed in an article published in 2001 by Gina Glover, a founding member of the south London-based photography centre Photofusion. ” He goes on to highlight how valuable it is to “get out of the house and mix with other photographers, share ideas and techniques… After all, it is not just about enlargers, but also about the social element.” Howard Sooley, a portrait photographer who, at the time, was printing shoots for American Vogue and Gardens Illustrated, explains how the photographer can “get very isolated, freelancing and working at home in his own darkroom. 2008 © Adam Bartos and Gitterman Gallery A community hubīJP’s October 1996 issue sheds light on the often-overlooked social dimension of the darkroom. Author John Blaxland writes: “Personal cleanliness is a very big point, too, and the chap with the well-greased hair should be warned never to touch photographic materials after combing his hair long polished fingernails, too, might be all very well at the reception desk, but they should certainly never handle wet prints and negatives.” Taking up two pages, this editorial proves just how important darkroom cleanliness was for printers and photographers operating in the late ‘40s. In a feature written in 1916, entitled Ex Cathedra: Clean Dark-Rooms, the author comments on the apparent lack of cleanliness in the darkroom: “Too often the dark-room is not only a laboratory but a depository for rubbish of all sorts, with hardly enough room for the operator to stand in without coming into collision with the disused washing tanks, old lamps and other lumber.”īy 1948, the conversation was still centred on the dangers of a dirty darkroom. In the first half of the 20th century, the darkroom was regarded as an extension of the photographer and their personal cleanliness. Published by Published by Steidldangin in 2013, DARKROOM includes photographs of both the producer and the product, in a book that charts the different role the darkroom has played through history. 2008 © Adam Bartos and Gitterman Gallery. Here, we take a look at some of the most insightful and intriguing contemplations on the darkroom. What may now seem like trivial concerns over darkroom cleanliness, equipment and design, these were once the journal’s focus and were the talk of the photography industry. RENAINE EQUIP EMBLEM ARCHIVEIts archives therefore provide insight into the changing role of the darkroom: from a cornerstone of scientific progress in its early days to the social and thriving hub it was at its peak, right through to its near-demise as the digital revolution took hold.Īfter combing through the magazine’s extensive archive we have selected some of the most insightful explorations of the darkroom. Throughout its long history, British Journal of Photography has featured a myriad photography technicians and printers, providing a mixture of in-depth interviews, good practice guides and equipment reviews about the darkroom and the secrets hidden within it.įounded in 1854, the trade-journal-turned-magazine has been a resource for photographers looking to work in the darkroom, or indeed those already making good use of one. To mark its launch, we delved into British Journal of Photography’s vast archive to explore its coverage of darkrooms over the past century-and-a-half. The Kickstarter campaign for the new Intrepid Enlarger is now live and will end on 03 November 2018. has teamed up with British Journal of Photography to launch the Intrepid Enlarger. Brighton-based camera manufacturer Intrepid Camera Co.
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