Picture credit: Gemma Juan
The new darkroom – located at Kensington and Chelsea College and initially only open to students – comes as film photography ‘makes a comeback’, according to college bosses.
‘The photography department has a view to making it bookable to the public in future, although they don’t have a date for when that will happen,’ said a college spokesperson.
The move comes amid what the college describes as a growing trend towards more film-based photography, allowing a ‘more organic approach with slightly less predictable results’.
In a statement, the college says the worldwide surge has been boosted by ‘huge growth’ in the use of film-based Lomo cameras.
‘For a younger generation who have only known digital photography, analogue photography is now “new” technology.
‘While digital photography dominates the commercial and news-gathering end of photography, much fine-art and advertising photography is using film to create a different look.’
Bruce Tanner, the college’s head of photography, added: ‘I designed this facility to make sure that we had a solid future for analogue photography in London.
‘It has been designed from the ground up, with many years of experience in designing and working in darkrooms – you will enjoy being in it.’
The college, which is based near King’s Road, is due to stage a free open evening on 6 November aimed at photography enthusiasts and professionals.
Plans include using the darkroom as a base for new courses.
Tanner continued: ‘Watching your first darkroom print appear in the developer under the dim red light is a moment you will never forget. Despite working mainly digitally, that magic has never left me.’
The college points out that it is possible for digital photographers to have their images converted to film, to enable them to benefit from the production of high-quality, silver-based prints without the need to own a film camera.
For details, call the college on 0207 573 3600 or visit www.kcc.ac.uk.
Picture credit: Dara Dorsman
