Analogue Wonderland has announced it is building a full minilab, ready to launch to film photographers in September.
Leading film supplier Analogue Wonderland has announced it is opening a new minilab for film development in the Oxfordshire/Buckinghamshire area. “Not everyone wants to venture into London with their films, or trust the postal systems with precious negatives, so a local and reliable developing service will be welcomed as the solution to both these concerns,” said co-founder, Paul McKay.
Paul and his business partner Mary in front of their new premises
The decision to open the lab came about as a result of numerous requests for film development – “so making it simple for customers to develop their film with the same company that they bought it from seems to be an easy way to smooth the process, and keep people shooting film,” added Paul.
The lab will be headed up by Marina Llopis, who will be joining Analogue Wonderland from the start of August to help build the processes, train the team, and plan the equipment flow. You may recognise Marina from her work as IFWEFILM.
Marina Llopis
Marina started her photography career in Japan, studying at the Nagoya Visual Arts School and then working at IINO Media Pro (a commercial studio and lab in Tokyo) before doing stints in Mallorca and Bristol in different photography labs. “With all this under her belt she brings more than 7 years of specialist skills and experience to the Analogue Wonderland family,” said Paul.
Nagoya Visual Arts College
“She is also a passionate film photographer and tutor, and she will be available throughout the project to help our customers learn more about the secrets behind film developing, scanning, and printing,” he added.
“Because Marina has worked in so many different labs across the world she has been able to identify some common themes of what can often be improved, and there are three specific and important areas that she wants the Analogue WonderLAB to excel in:
- Sustainability – “we will make the analogue process as environmentally friendly as possible – from start to finish – so that people know that the impact of their hobby on the wider world has been absolutely minimised.”
- Organisation – “we want the WonderLAB to be the most efficient minilab in the world, eradicating process and logistical mistakes from the system, so that folks can entrust us with their special memories with 100% confidence.”
- Community – “we want to cultivate a hub of film photography for our local film photographers and blur the lines between commercial and home development, so that anyone can choose seamlessly between processing at home or dropping their films at our door.”
Marina in the AW Lab space
If you have any feedback or comments about what you would like to see from the new lab, contact Marina via email at marina@analoguewonderland.co.uk. You can also follow the project on Instagram via Analogue Wonderland or IfWeFilm
Further reading
Building an Analogue Wonderland
Subscription service offers ‘wonder box’ of analogue photography films to try
