The benefits of a dark room in a digital world
It is nearing the holiday season and Apple has just released their latest model of phone. It’s stunning, sleek and has a camera that can turn any amateur into the next influencer. I can’t help but wonder how many wish-lists it ended up on this year, and how many parents caved.
It is not new news that smart phones and developing brains do not go well together. I mean really, smart phones and full grown brains do not go well together, or I suppose go too well together. Those flashy devices that we all carry around know just how to hit our brains in that soft little spot that murmurs “Again”.
I could complain that we all buy new phones every two years and chalk it up to the successful brain washing of the corporations that run our societies but, although there’s some truth in that statement, another truth is that our technology is moving so fast. Whether it be cameras, computers, drones or phones, we are outgrowing our technology at a seemingly unstoppable rate.
As a culture, we are moving just as fast. Twenty years ago cell phones were usually limited to one per household, if that. Now thousands of people make their living directly through and with that single piece of technology. Some jobs require people to be available at nearly all hours of the day and tablet and digital learning is becoming the norm in class rooms.
It seems, then, that technology, specifically those nifty little phones we carry, is here to stay. So, how do we cope? Now, don’t get me wrong. I think much of the technology we have developed is beautiful and interesting and allows us to grow and learn and connect in ways we never thought possible. I also think that we need to recognize the pitfalls that this technology comes with and do what we can to minimize the potential negative health and social effects associated with these pitfalls.
How do we do this? There’s a world of solutions for this question but I’m putting forward this: In each high school and community centre, build and maintain a photography dark room.
Before diving in, I’m going to give you a quick explanation of how a dark room works. This will help to give some perspective and foundation to the points I’m going to make.
A dark room is just that - dark. A gentle red glow is all that lights this sealed off space and with walls painted black, what little light there is gets completely absorbed. There is one or more enlarging stations and either a huge machine (this is relatively rare) or a long sink with a number of trays set up. The trays have various chemicals or wash stations and with precise timing and calm diligence, you move the photograph from one station to another.
The photograph appears on a piece of photography paper that you have flashed with light and the imprint of your negative. Like when taking a photograph, you adjust how much light is to come through the lens and for how long. You also adjust the level of magenta which affects your contrast (when printing in colour you also adjust the level of yellow and blue but I haven’t much experience with that).
A difference of three seconds or one stop of the lens can make a huge difference in how your piece comes out. On top of that, any external light will ruin your photograph and, if working with others, your neighbours too. Do you know what this means? No phones. Imagine having kids in high school give up their phones for a few hours. Instead of taking phones away to limit screen time, they’d be provided with a creative (and mathematical) outlet to learn and grow through. At worst, for a few hours a week there is a subtle adjustment in how our youth are handling the technology that our world is selling them. At best, they either consciously or subconsciously start to bring that experience into other places in their lives and find their own ways to put down their phones.
On top of having productive and fulfilling phone-free time, the second and maybe more important benefit of the dark room is the way in which it stretches your attention span. A person’s attention span and ability to stay focused are likely the places we see the most negative impact from smart phone over-usage. The instant gratification and mass blasts of notifications from our devices are concentration-killers.
You start printing your photograph by doing tests strips. This helps you to see the light and levels you’ll need to use to successfully print your photo. When doing your test strips, you generally test at about 3 second intervals. The whole process of adjusting the settings, placing your paper and flashing it can take less than two minutes but during that time you have to be entirely focused.
From there you bring your paper to the trays and spend anywhere from five to twenty minutes developing your photo (the developing time changes based on the type of paper you use). Again, you have to be entirely focused. You usually have a timer with you for this portion as each chemical contacts the paper for a specific amount of time. If you drift off and forget your timing, you can ruin your photo and have to start the whole process over again.
Finishing a photograph feels like an achievement. You’ve focused on one specific image for an extended period of time and finish with a piece of art that tells a story. Holding an image you have printed feel immensely gratifying.
The last note I’ll make on the topic takes us out of the dark room itself and into the real world. In order to print from negatives, you need to have film. This means that individuals working in the dark room would need to go out and shoot on film. Shooting on film is such a different experience than taking a photo with your phone. There are no checks and redo’s, there is only a single click and then you move on. This inherently forces the photographer to slow down, to bring more diligence into framing and light. It is an act of mindfulness, an opportunity to step back and go slow.