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Everybody in Portland knows about the recent closure of Newspace Center for Photography. Those beyond the city might not, but they can imagine the damage to the photo community when one of the last accessible darkrooms for film shuttered almost overnight. A hole was left.
I was very fond of Newspace. I’m not a photographer so never used its darkroom facilities but its active lecture series and artist-in-residence program brought many great practitioners to town. It was also the final venue for Prison Obscura in Spring 2016. (Installation shots). I’ve fond memories of the staff, support, volunteers, openings and exhibitions at Newspace. A hole was left.
There’s a larger backstory to the saga, some raw emotions and accusations that better board planning could’ve averted the disaster. But instead of focusing on ‘What if’ or ‘What might have been’ a core group of photo-geeks sunk their efforts, cash and hope into creating a replacement. They showed up at Newspace’s fire-sale of equipment, snagged as much as they could and loaded it onto a flotilla of trucks. They’ve built out a brand spanking new darkroom and are ready for business. Introducing The Portland Darkroom.
The Portland Darkroom wants to keep film photography alive and accessible. Rose City needs this resource. They’ve launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the first year of operations and get them off to a running start.
I can’t wait to get in the space and meet the photo-peeps who’ve made this happen. Who knows, maybe I’ll resurrect the Eye On PDX series I did with Blake Andrews 2012-2014 to celebrate, and ask questions of, our local image-makers?
Head over to The Portland Darkroom website and sign up for updates. Place some money in the pot. Go on! In return for your support, there’s prints, workshops, stickers, postcards and oodles of thanks from the founders. Head over to The Portland Darkroom Kickstarter page and check out the perks.
Jeremy Ramsden © Richard Nicholson
I was pleased as punch to feature Richard Nicholson‘s project Analog today on Wired’s Raw File.
When Nicholson began the project in 2006, there were 204 photo printing labs in and around London, printing images from film stock to paper. By 2009, only six remained.
Nicholson: “Each image was made in total darkness. I would switch off the lights, open the camera’s shutter, and then walk around the darkroom illuminating the scene with multiple bursts from a handheld flashgun.”
See the 12 image gallery and read our full interview: Photo Enlargers Loom Like Dinosaurs of the Film Age [Here’s a free tip. Click the view all button to see everything on one page.]
Considering the objects of extinction, it’s no surprise that there are many photographers composing photographic obituaries of the analog craft. Kindred projects to Nicholson’s Analog include Michel Campeau’s Darkroom, John Cyr’s Developer Trays and Robert Burley’s The Disappearance of Darkness.
IF YOU’RE IN LONDON
Analog — The Last One Out, Please Turn On the Light is on show at Riflemaker Gallery, 79 Beak St., Regent Street, London W1F 9SU, until March 11. E-mail: info@riflemaker.org.
Prison Photography 