After a year and change of having my studio, I’ve finally got my darkroom up and running. It’s kind of my M.O… I’ll get an idea, I’ll ruminate and grind on it for a good long while, put it into action in a sprint, get 85% of the way there then ease off the gas. Make sure things are aligned. Put final touches in place. Then refine, tweak, fine tune. Thats where I’m at right now. Refining, tweaking, tuning. It never really ends. It’s never perfect. It’s never done.
Remembering the old processes. My hands remembering how to wind film on steel reels. Mixing ratios of wet chemistry. Getting developer down to 68º in a hot studio with a water ice bath. The muscle memory comes back quickly. Echos of 16 year old me figuring it all out for the first time. The first darkroom didn’t even have plumbing. Or ventilation. This one is a luxury.
Dissolving grains of Dektol in 120º water. The way the developer makes your fingers feel slippery… And how stop bath takes it away. The slight sulfurous scent of fixer.
This is the first roll of recent film processed and printed in the new lab. I’ve been shooting film on most of my shoots for the last year and a half, in anticipation of having a proper darkroom in which to develop and print them. I have quite a backlog to get through. I’m looking forward to it. I’m not in a rush.
I thought it would be fun to post one single, entire roll of film here. The good, the bad and the derpy. This is from one of my shoots with Brett. Kodak Tri-X shot with my Nikon FM2, with probably the 85mm lens. Developed in HC-110. If you’re a member of the “Print of the Month Club” you’ll be receiving a sliver gelatin darkroom print from this roll. If you’re not, you’ve got til August 1st to sign up and get one. It’s a hell of a deal at $15. Less if you sign up for a year. Your free members only access will get you high res scans of every frame from the above contact sheet. 37 images. It’s been an interesting experience working with this roll. Developing, scanning, printing a contact sheet, printing a couple test prints. There’s more care and intention and purpose put into these 37 images than all the hundreds of digital files I’ve shot of her over our maybe five hours together. There’s lessons here.
More. Lots more to come.
