Re: [Leica] Why I want a wet darkroom

["Rei Shinozuka" <shino@panix.com>]

working in the darkroom, like woodworking, like sculpting or painting
(or like jogging for goodness sakes') it's physical, dirty, inefficient--
and part of the human experience.  much of the joy is in the subtle
qualities of the doing.

- -rei

p.s. i'm a bad character to weigh in... just get me in front of a computer
any my systolic goes up by 40 points.  60 hour a week is more than
enough exposure for any sentient being.


> From: Adam Bridge <abridge@mac.com>
> 
> I'd like to thank everyone who replied to my request. And I'd like to thank BD
> for asking the hard question: WHY?
> 
> It IS expensive to set up a darkroom. Esp if I went the Jobo route although I
> suspect I might find a used one somewhere at a reasonable price.
> 
> I'll speak now for me: I want a darkroom because there's a direct relationship
> between what I make and what I do with my hands. It's all in the time-domain. If
> I want three identical prints, and there's a lot of doging and burning and other
> manipulation then I have to do things the same way. So I in the darkroom I have
> a work-of-hands.
> 
> My computer work - and I have everything that BD mentioned - is not as
> satisfying to me. I work on a print in the digital domain. I can make print
> after print on my piezo and they will all look the same.
> 
> It seems like the art has vanished then. I suppose you can reasonably say that
> it has moved to the manipulation of Photoshop. And that's true - and yet I am
> left with the feeling that the REAL art is in Photoshop as well as most of the
> craft.
> 
> There's something in the darkroom PROCESS that I like. The control. Heck I can
> make my chemistry from scratch if I want to. That seems to be a fundamental part
> of what I like about darkroom work - getting my hands dirty, dealing with what I
> have in my mind, the imperfections of the negative (and understanding them so I
> do it better when I take my next photos), watching the print develop, thinking
> about it, learning what is possible.
> 
> Maybe it's because I'm a rookie in the darkroom so every print is new and
> different and a different challenge. The joy of making a mistake that leads to
> something new for me to explore.
> 
> It FEELS like art to me and when I work in the darkroom I feel like an artist.
> That's why I desire a darkroom.
> 
> Thanks for asking, BD, and for making me think about it.
> 
> Adam Bridge


- -- 
Rei Shinozuka shino@panix.com
Ridgewood, New Jersey

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