Freelance photographer James Hare taking street photos outside a coffee shop in the Centretown neighbourhood. Hare is hoping to set up a community darkroom.
Once he learned how to process his own film, James Hare could never go back to handing off control of the final step in printing his photographs.
“I like the idea of having my hand in the photograph, having that handmade element to it,” says Hare. “Digital is essentially all machine-made, which makes it feel more removed from the artist.”
But accessing wet lab photo processing facilities in downtown Ottawa is next to impossible for those who aren’t enrolled in training programs such as those offered at the School of Photographic Arts Ottawa. Many end up using their kitchen sinks and bathtubs to develop their film.
As a result, Hare is searching for space in Centretown to set up a community darkroom. The darkroom would serve photographers and filmmakers who have shunned the digital age and opt to use the traditional techniques of analog film.
Hare, who does freelance photography, is looking for a space ranging between 108 to 180 square metres. Half the area would function as a darkroom and the other half as a finishing area where people could cut mats and mount their work.
He has already viewed light industrial space down the street from the Enriched Bread Artists on Gladstone Avenue and is also looking into whether local churches might have space available for lease.
He says membership fees would cover the cost of renting the space, but photographers would have to supply their own processing chemicals.
The fees would also cover the cost of the plumbing supplies, used kitchen counters and sheets of plywood needed to set up the darkroom.
“We’re looking not necessarily to generate profit, but I think we’d have enough interest to keep it open and running,” Hare says.
Hare’s endeavour has so far piqued the interest of 30 people, many of whom are currently developing their film in less than ideal conditions.
“Right now, I’m working out of my bathroom,” says Jeremie Roy with a chuckle.
Roy, who co-ordinates the part-time studies program at the School of Photographic Arts Ottawa, says the school could also use the new darkroom space to accommodate a growing interest in analog photography.
“Digital photography is so popular right now that we get students who come to us wanting to be different somehow,” he says. “So younger generations are coming back to analog photography.”
As a result, the school’s darkroom is constantly in use and students regularly complain that the space is not available when they need it.
The demand Roy sees on a daily basis at the school leads him to believe a community darkroom is a viable business model, even though film photography has lost some ground in the digital revolution.
Most recently, venerable Eastman Kodak filed for bankruptcy protection, a result of the company’s failure to commercialize its digital camera.
“Analog is a different form of expression,” Roy says. “I don’t think chemical photography will ever disappear, just in the same way that oil paint never disappeared even though acrylic paint makes a whole lot more sense.”
Ming Wu, a local photographer, works mainly with digital photography but sees the virtue in going back to basics.
“I rarely do film photography, but when I do, I pay a high price to have it developed,” he says.
Wu says he would be ready to pay a yearly membership fee of around $100 to access a darkroom facility.
Hare, however, is hoping to reduce membership costs by getting funding from either the city or a patron willing to support a community arts organization.
“We’re still exploring the options and looking at whether it’s realistic, but we’re keeping our fingers crossed.”