ranting about the red light district

A director friend of mine Robb who I shot the Aylesbury doc with also works part time at a community college. He said I could use the darkroom when he goes in. So today a sauntered (well, more or less) on in there with my beginners box of 8x10 RC (resin coated for you novices out there.. hehe), my gloves, my can of air, my (digital) neg carriers, my blower brush and my folder of negs. I have been in the digital darkroom for nearly 7 years since graduating and haven't gone back since (not through lack of trying, just lack of funds). Ironically, I didn't even know how to use photoshop when i was at university. I didn't even know how to scan a picture. Frankly, I don't know what i did there. Well, actually, I spent a majority of my time in darkrooms printing, 10 hours a day. Black and white printing is a different ball game to colour. Not just in terms of the printing but the practice. You can take your unexposed paper out in the red light within a BW darkroom. In a colour darkroom, although you have a red light, you have to take your paper out in COMPLETE blackness. Therefore one gets used to being somewhat blind and printing. Also, colour darkrooms are separate from each other with one enlarger per room. BW's are combined (get the logic?). At university we used to cut roll paper which was 30 inches wide on the floor in complete darkness. Small dar rooms with red lights have more than one use. Life was fun.

Anyway. This evening, I had 3 hours to print. I had to re aquaint myself with my ol' China, 'The Enlarger'. Putting in filters, basically varying degrees of red acetate into your enlarger to increase/decrease contrast seems rather arcane now since having done it for years by using a colour enlarger magenta dials or on photoshop using histogram levels/curves. It is- a craft. now, that, with the printing time (even if it is machine) and the dodging and burning, I found it quite laborious. I used to love it. Not that I don't anymore, but I have become accustomed to doing ALL of that before I print ONE bit of paper. In the darkroom, you have to do it, then print, then assess, then make adjustments for your next print, then assess, them print again... until you get The Print. On Photoshop, you pretty much can do it all before you print because you see what you're doing when you do it. This way, it's all a bit organic and tactile. This isn't the fun bit. The fun bit is when you get a bit more practice (ie, in about next week), when I go to Fiber based and do tray printing. That is even more laborious but if you end up (and typically can) with a great black and white print, it makes the hours seems worth the cathartic ride worth it ( a little like cake baking).

Printing black and white is my first love. Colour came second. Printing colour is child's play in comparison. Good BW printing done properly is serious art form. From what film you shoot, to what developer you use, the ratio you mix it in, the time you develop it for- and thats before you get to the darkroom.

I never got really anal with it. I never get anal with anything really. But if tinal value is mostly what you are working with, there is a finite art to just that one thing and one can become concerned with the nuances the longer one does it.

So after 3 hours I managed to print 5 contact sheets and this 6x8 print of a photo I took in Hong Kong last autumn.

Camera: Leica III, 35mm summar lens (it's not great but it's okay)
Film: Ilford Delta Pro 100
Dev: Ilford Rodinal 1:50 for 20 mins ( i think )
I processed at home.

Print: 25 secs with dodging in the dark areas (right- background stalls) to bring out detail and face (as it was getting too dark in the overall exposure) extra seconds on exposure to the poly box centre and to the veg to the left of frame. Printed with 'filed' neg carrier.

Scanned at home on an Epson 4990. Click to enlarge.


This next thing is the composite shot I did of one infamous blocks of Aylesbury estate, 'Wendover' and sticthed it manually together in Photoshop (later manipulated in After Effects and tracked day to night). It comprises of over 100 digital stills. Please click to take a closer look.


The alumni students didn't have the foggiest who I was. But I am sure, that will change with time. Just like printing skills.

- J