Making THE Unique Darkroom Print
Self-awareness
Knowing what opens your deepest thoughts. Or tapping into what allows you to give your time to deep exploration and concentration, allows for much greater satisfaction than frustration. In my case, that is ever-changing color shaped by natural form, simply bathed by light.
Collection
Whether you choose a camera to stalk your vision or go out in my case like a hunter-gatherer, you are searching. It’s the thrill of the hunt. What will I see today? You might point your camera at some idiosyncrasy, a perfectly lit moment, or a vista. For me, I enter a concentrated observation of natural (mostly) objects while walking. I go to the spaces that inspire me. You could call that the first choice of the day. Walking the trail, the street, the nursery, the market. Something will always catch my eye. If I am as open as a bee to color, pattern, and shape, I will get a buzz or a signal. I procure these items to go back to my creative space.
Transportation
This is always tricky. In my creative process, there can be no signs of stress. No creases, no dirt, or damage, by wind or me. Luminosity will reveal these characteristics and distract the viewer. So the challenge could be traffic, heat, calls, or other schedules that crunch upon a photographer’s intentions.
Materials
Who wouldn’t like to have fresh chemistry, plenty of paper, a clean work surface, everything tested and balanced, ready to get to creating? It rarely is that way and problem solving can be a drag. These things can douse the original spark, but the other side of the brain must push through to solutions while you retain your vision.
All systems go
Now I can make my composition. This work is not that spontaneous and time is ticking. If I noticed anything unusually magical about the subject in its original natural environment that is what I would like to reveal or amplify. Music must be on, hands must be clean, and soft paintbrushes and pipe cleaners must be close at hand. In a darkroom with one drawing lamp, I set about to create a composition of interest, suspended inside a flexible frame. Holding my breath, I search for anything that could detract after magnification. A hair, dust, pollen, fingerprints, insects, sap, an eyelash. This is a dance that is made much more enjoyable with sheer belief! This IS possible and I will achieve this!
Testing begins
Test strips dial in color filtration and time exposure, and for the sake of time, are best when they occur simultaneously. Each test takes 40 minutes to process. The thought of wasting very expensive paper will keep you in this phase for most of the day. Sometimes 2 days. In that case, I will have multiple specimens. if perishable, new compositions will be a must, stepping back to rearrange a new composition.
Making the photograph
Now I am ready to combine vision, inspiration, and the testing information into a full sheet exposure. That is also a dance. Using my hands, wands, and cards with holes that limit and allow more light in combination during a seconds-long exposure that can range from 10 seconds to 3 minutes. Making mental notes and turning them into actual notes. Always in total darkness.
Processing
Are the processor gods with me today? Will the rollers transporting the paper through the numerous baths stay on track at the right time and temperature? In 40 minutes I will know.
The magical photographic print
As I place the finished print up on the color-balanced lit viewing area, gently hanging it with magnets, I almost immediately know. I am either beaming from the inside or furrowing my brow. I usually back up 6 feet when it’s good or approach with trepidation to observe why it must be redone.
This is the process for each of my 1/1 photographs. Each piece had its origin in this process. Time consuming? Yes, but I hardly noticed the days, months, and years. I am still in love with it and the imagery created. Maybe you will be moved by these unique creations and understand their rarity.
