Giving a darkroom talk to digital people

[Prof_Pixel]

What others have said about comparing actions with Photoshop is a good one.

I'd go easy with that approach. The fact is, many manipulations are done much easier in Photoshop than in the darkroom. Stick with the 'magic' and hands-on satisfaction.

[K-G]

When in the dakroom, people respect the closed door and leave you alone. With Photoshop, anyone can look over your shoulder and make nasty comments. Good luck !

Karl-Gustaf

[kerrpanda]

Oh, man! Y'all have FAR exceeded my hopes! None of these was a bad idea, and I am going to try to articulate, like Dan said, the smells, quiet (except for your favorite music) , no intrusion unless you want it, MAGICAL experience that, in my mind, digital will never allow for. Thank you, thank you, thank you! And if you have any more ideas, keep 'em coming, please!

[ToddB]

Maybe with your demo you can convince people to join the "Darkside" no pun intended.

ToddB

[StoneNYC]

Oh, man! Y'all have FAR exceeded my hopes! None of these was a bad idea, and I am going to try to articulate, like Dan said, the smells, quiet (except for your favorite music) , no intrusion unless you want it, MAGICAL experience that, in my mind, digital will never allow for. Thank you, thank you, thank you! And if you have any more ideas, keep 'em coming, please!

Be cautious of the smells part. A single environmental or health conscious person will talk about health issues and environmental damage from chemicals.

:/


~Stone

Mamiya: 7 II, RZ67 Pro II / Canon: 1V, AE-1, 5DmkII / Kodak: No 1 Pocket Autographic, No 1A Pocket Autographic | Sent w/ iPhone using Tapatalk

[TheFlyingCamera]

If the question of environmental damage comes up, let them know that most of the chemicals used in wet photography are organic, naturally occurring (stop bath is basically concentrated vinegar, even COFFEE can be used as a photo developer!), and those that are not can be handled and processed safely (silver recovery from spent fixer). And unless you are on a septic system and/or get your water from a well, the average home user poses zero risk to a modern public sewage system. All their neighbors on Prozac and Xanax are causing infinitely more pollution than the odd batch of film and prints.

[sbattert]

I put a piece of tracing paper over the back of a camera and showed a group of kids and parents the upside down image projected on the film plane. They were pretty amazed at that. You can't make a digital camera at home, but you can make an analog camera at home. From camera obscura to the latent image on the film emulsion to developing and enlarging. It's all very fascinating. Pinhole day is coming up next month, you could bring in a pinhole camera and demonstrate the paper negative. You could also explain the difference between 8x10 film vs. a digital 35mm sensor (without going into too much detail).

[cliveh]

Sorry, but you have got me fired up now, as I would love to give this talk - You probably wouldn’t have the facilities to do a demonstration showing the production of a photogenic drawing, but if you could they would all be hooked. If you made an exposure using the same chemistry as used by William Henry Fox Talbot in 1834 and showed them the wet result in the light of day, the effect would be incomparable with anything digital. The wet coloured image will reveal a superb colour and contrast that even when stabilised, will then change before their eyes in 30 seconds or so.

[sbattert]

Sorry, but you have got me fired up now, as I would love to give this talk.

Well if you're fired up, make a video demonstration for us.

[Alan Klein]

Bring in some MF or LF slides with a light box. Bring in samples of B/W prints that jump off the paper. I'd go easy on comparing to Photoshop.