community darkrooms in the LA area

[msbarnes]

I'm going home to LA for the summer (from bay area) and I'm really sad that I can't find a community darkroom (but I admit that I haven't looked very hard yet...).

I'm from Northridge but I'm willing to drive further away to print. I'll start with local community colleges but perhaps some of you know of some places?

Michael

[Daniel Stone]

come out to the Covina area:

http://tri-communityphotoprogram.com/

I use their facilities, and while there is still a *LOT* left to be desired (well 99% of the populace here are digi-only), they still have wet lab facilities for both b/w printing and RA-4 printing(both up to 4x5)

cheers,
Dan

[Mark Woods]

Dkrm in Chinatown in LA has facilities for rent. Also, you could take a class at LACC, they have a large wet darkroom. Some of the other CCs may also have facilities.

[ROL]

Taking a class is one thing, doing your own work quite another. My experience with college lab courses, and this was long before a good many of them converted to digital processes, is that unless you're working on curriculum or a vetted advanced student, doing extracurricular work will not be welcomed (from the staff viewpoint, not without good reason). In any case, you may be sharing facilities with enrolled students (i.e., "lifers"), many of whom care less about your work than theirs and unsympathetic staff, for whom your desires may simply mean more work for themselves. Which is all to say that college DR's are not community DR's. I suspect that many of us built our first DR's, and thus enforced our commitment to the medium, because of less than satisfactory institutional experiences. But, if you can find a lab course that suits your sensibilities, not an easy task with diminishing public school support and burgeoning student populations, and are coming in with open eyes and modest expectations, then learning something new and engagement with new people may be of great value.

[SpeedGraphicMan]

Try contact in Los Angeles...
Although I haven't used them personally... I hear they are great...
http://www.contactla.com/rental/

[billie williams]

Santa Monica College has Community Ed darkroom class available. You work on your own. Looks like the next session starts June 23.

http://commed.smc.edu/index.cfm?method=ClassListing.ClassListingDisplay&int_category_id=1&int_sub_category_id=2&int_catalog_id=