Defend the Darkroom revisited

[Tin Can]

Is anyone trying to set up a living Darkroom that will survive them? Schools seem to be giving up. How do we save a working Darkroom for 100 years. After that I cannot imagine. I found the 2007 thread about Ilford's 'Defend the Darkroom.' Anything else in the works?

[lenser]

Maybe someone wealthy enough to not only contribute the gear to a college or university art department, but also create and fund a large permanent endowment to that department with the stipulation that all proceeds from the funding and interest must go only for that use. Could a clause be created defaulting such a fund back to the creator's estate if it were mishandled?

[Tin Can]

That's the idea. I wonder if anyone is trying. Has this been discussed?

[mcherry]

Come to NYC and visit the School at ICP (International Center of Photography). It is, by far, the nicest traditional facility I have ever seen in my entire life. The darkrooms are huge and plentiful with separate rooms for film processing, general lab work and printing. Everything is state of the art and there is no doubt that the facility will outlive me (and I'm 45).

The students who go there are shooting both film and digital with a good percentage falling in love with film every year. I have taught students of all ages how to not only shoot a large format camera, but also how to develop their negatives and print from them - and often times these are kids who have never shot a frame of film before this class. Their excitement is beyond anything I've ever seen.

[Tin Can]

Well that is good to hear! Made my day. I thought most institutions have given up and are simply dumping their equipment before jumping ship. I have just retired and have been busy building a large private darkroom. It is in an art's building where artists own their condo live/work spaces. As I have no heir, I have been wondering how to preserve my end of life efforts, after I am gone.

I am not alone, my building has 3 Pro digital photographers and many filmmakers, and I have several residents wanting to use my darkroom. Which is not quite finished, as I am handicapped and slow at construction. But helpers are here every day.

Only yesterday, I met a couple people outside my door. They were investigating the area for their daughter. Seems the daughter will be renting next to me and does Tintypes. I could not believe my ears. Good news surely.

I am located in Chicago. My building is, Bloomingdale Art's Building and we have been here 10 years. A documentary was made of our 'struggles.' Do not believe everything you read on the the web about us.

As I am an Alumnus of Chicago's School of the Art Institute, I plan to approach them. However a recent review of their website indicates they consider chemical photography beyond obsolete. Maybe they will want a remote site, next to the newest Chicago park.

Now I must prepare space for the Calumet 8x10 enlarger being installed tomorrow.

As they say,

Cheers!

[ic-racer]

Teach your kids.

[Tin Can]

I guess you did not read what I wrote. I have no heir, children, wife, etc.


Teach your kids.

[Pat Kearns]

About 6 months ago the communications department at one of the local colleges was moving into another smaller building on campus. They advertised they were selling all the darkroom equipment. I went to see what was available that I might use. Speaking with the department chair, she told me that with the advent of digital they hadn't had a class in film photography or anyone use their darkrooms in over three years. The darkrooms were being converted into classrooms. All of the darkroom equipment had to go either by selling it or sending it to the landfill. They were taking all offers on the equipment. I seemed to be the only person that came and her husband teamed up with me to help sort trash/treasure. I already have an outfitted darkroom so a lot of stuff was of no interest. I did find a few things that were useful. It made me sad to know that the final resting place was going to be the dump for a lot of the equipment. Some colleges are moving to digital now and literally dumping darkroom equipment so defending the darkroom is like jousting with windmills.

[zmanphoto]

I teach at a 4-year university in Oklahoma and we still teach a basic darkroom class and a view camera class. I can't imagine not having this as a part of our curriculum. Our students shoot digital, but it does them good to "get their hands wet." Teaches them to slow down and think about what they are shooting.

[Tin Can]

A short update. I had a rough stint and the darkroom has stalled, but not stopped. I took the physical downtime to better organize my portrait studio and remove all extraneous objects. Old console stereo, 1948 TV, that sort of debris, as I need to carefully use every inch and only have room for photography. Built the corner bed, that every mad scientist needs in his lab, and made half the kitchen, old camera storage. I used to motorcycle camp. I can live on little with little. I guess I am the guy eating rice and beans in order to better feed my obsession.

[ScottPhotoCo]

Randy,

Keep up the faith and the good work. Your plans and dedication inspire me. If I can do anything to help (though I now live in CA) please do let me know. I believe in film.

Tim
www.ScottPhoto.co


A short update. I had a rough stint and the darkroom has stalled, but not stopped. I took the physical downtime to better organize my portrait studio and remove all extraneous objects. Old console stereo, 1948 TV, that sort of debris, as I need to carefully use every inch and only have room for photography. Built the corner bed, that every mad scientist needs in his lab, and made half the kitchen, old camera storage. I used to motorcycle camp. I can live on little with little. I guess I am the guy eating rice and beans in order to better feed my obsession.

[Tin Can]

Thanks, I needed that. I am up all night fighting with 2 faulty digital Nikons. I have a copy art session at noon and both high end DSLR's are driving me crazy. One has oil spots on the sensor and the other will not focus. I may just use a P&S. Unfortunately the art world now demands digital documentation. I have Polaroid instant slide film in the fridge, but nobody wants a quick and dirty slide.

[ROL]

I must confess, I was confused about the point of this thread when I first read it, as it seemed at first to be about the support of public and institutional darkroom labs. And yet now it seems to be mostly about your personal journey? :confused:

Be that as it may, I have and do defend the darkroom, an increasingly difficult and thankless task, even on photo forums such as this. Although I have no illusions that my facility will survive me, and no reason to believe that anyone would care if that happened tomorrow, I have taken specific, purposeful, and definite steps to assure its ultimate longevity by engaging in the most popular and contemporary of technical paradigms, the world wide web. My lab and my techniques, personal though they may be, will survive published on my own site, YouTube, and other digital domains for as long as those servers spit electrons around the globe. And I do this not for personal enrichment of any kind, and all too frequently at peril from critical desk chair keyboard jockeys who offer nothing original of their own other than their own self-righteous piety, but only at the service of others. Yes, in this sense, my darkroom will survive me.

[Tin Can]

ROL, yes it is a personal journey, and I hope to make my darkroom last beyond me. My artist owned building is price controlled and occupied solely by artists according to our bylaws. I would like to find a way to maintain the darkroom past my death. I agree a digital legacy may be all we have and may prove more comprehensive and accessible than our predecessors analog data. Maybe...

But, we are off to a poor digital start. Much digital media is lost daily and if a website is not perpetuated we lose a valuable link. I am constantly frustrated researching this forum and all others and finding nothing but snippets and broken links to the past.

Most of us have our negatives, prints and books from our youth. Do we have all our digital files? Not I. Even http://archive.org/index.php misses things all the time.

I hope to inspire someone in my building to carry on. I will donate everything I have to this purpose. I would like to engage a larger institution that may have a longer focus. As I wrote earlier, I will look to Chicago academic and museum venues. The Art Institute of Chicago has a history of maintaining some offsite artist venues. One is http://www.saic.edu/webspaces/rogerbrown/brown/index.html. this a former house not a mile from where I live.

I have a lot to do.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Maybe someone wealthy enough to not only contribute the gear to a college or university art department, but also create and fund a large permanent endowment to that department with the stipulation that all proceeds from the funding and interest must go only for that use. Could a clause be created defaulting such a fund back to the creator's estate if it were mishandled?

After working over thirty years in higher education, I can show you ways the administration manages to defeat anything they please, regardless of stipulations.

Aside - Our journalism and photography voted in a new Chair who promptly banished the darkrooms. There are now rooms of remnant plumbing. Nothing else. I had already donated a Saltzman 8x10 enlarger and they had a room with plumbing, cement floor, and high enough ceiling to accommodate the 14' monster. (Really, a marvelous machine that I spent months restoring.) Now the Saltzman sits disassembled under the back steps covered in plastic. Hopeless situation.