"The negative is comparable to the composer's score and the print is the performance. Each performance differs in subtle ways."
Roy Snell darkroom, Earlsfield, 2006. Photograph: Richard Nicholson
In a seminar while studying for my MA I blurted out the statement that you no longer had to set foot in a darkroom to become a photographer. One of my fellow students with over thirty years experience, at least half of those in education, exploded while the guest speaker, art critic David Lee, rubbed his hands and watched a very heated debate unfold.
My statement was said half-heartedly, to provoke more than anything else, as I have printed black and white images not only for myself but for photographers throughout the UK for most of my working career (including the fellow MA student who wanted to throttle me). The linked article illustrates that darkrooms are no longer essential to the photographic process…… but still possesses a ‘magic’ that the digital throw away age finds hard to replicate.
