Giving a darkroom talk to digital people

[kerrpanda]

Help! I have to give a talk about darkroom to my photography club. They are of course, digital. Can anyone help me with how to best convey what goes on without the actual demo props of a darkroom? Or just how to just spark an interest? I would appreciate any and all ideas. Thanks in advance!
Cynthia

[cliveh]

Make sure you tell them that chemical photography is the nearest they will ever come to magic.

[Jeff Searust]

Everything in Photoshop can be done in the darkroom, and the names of the processes will then make sense... i.e. dodge and burn

[jp498]

Yes, photoshop is a good way to relate that. Dodge/burn, masks, curves, contrast, toning, crop all relate to printing in the darkroom. Negative film is like HDR with a big dynamic range. Slide film is like DSLR with no room for overexposure and wysiwyg color. Filters for color film are like white balance for digital, filters for B&W are like color separating color digital images into B&W layers.

[Dan Henderson]

Jeff makes a good point, although I would approach it from a slightly different direction. Many of the things that are done in Photoshop were first done in the darkroom: adjusting exposure and contrast, local dodging and burning. Since the other members are digital people they will understand those ideas, and your job is to do is explain how each is done in the darkroom.

Part of what attracted me to and keeps me working in the darkroom are the sensations. Quieter, darker, warmer, cozy red light, even the smells. I slow down in the darkroom. In my former career I was expected to use the left side of my brain and not try to be too creative. I used the computer all day, every day. So if I were making this talk I would spend some time explaining how different being in the darkroom was (and still is) from the rest of my life. It is a creative compartment that does not exist elsewhere (except, perhaps, under the dark cloth...)

And I would also spend some time discussing the differences between digital imagemaking and darkroom printing, while at the same time making it clear that I do not think one is superior to the other. They are just different. At least they are to me, anyway.

[Prof_Pixel]

Make sure you tell them that chemical photography is the nearest they will ever come to magic.

Yup, I like that. Nothing beats the sight of an image coming up in the developer tray.

[cliveh]

What others have said about comparing actions with Photoshop is a good one. Are you giving this talk with a visual presentation? If so you may take a typical digital image and show how using curves, by applying a typical characteristic curve, at toe and shoulder improves the image. You could also show images by people like Jerry Uelsmann to show how, what some people think is unique to Photoshop can also be done in the darkroom. Also, show pictures taken by the greats on film, to impress that multiple shots available with digital has nothing to do with the photographic skill concerning the moment of capture and effective composition. You may also point out that technological and aesthetic improvement is not always in step with chronological progression.

[BMbikerider]

Is there any chance of creating a temporary darkroom, nothing elaborate, to show them what it is like. Actions speak much louder than words. Some folk are too dense to take in what is being said and a demonstration is far, far, better.

[pdeeh]

I'm going to adopt a bit of a "Devil's Advocate" position ... let us say I am a digital user who has never used film ... someone comes along and describes to me how everything I can already do while I am sitting comfortably in front of a computer in my living room, with the TV on and food and drink to hand, can be done if only I dedicate a darkened room to it, and buy or otherwise acquire a whole new suite of equipment, and be prepared to put up with handling potentially toxic (not very toxic, but somewhat) chemicals, some of which also smell unpleasant ...

Now that is a bit of a caricature, of course, but I'm not sure using the "it's just like PS" is necessarily the best approach to pulling in dedicated digital users to try film.

Having said that, one rather important thing when training or teaching or just giving a talk is to know your audience a bit ... so if it's your own club, you might know whether you can hook them by appealing to nostalgia (if they are former film users) or geekiness (180 years of chemistry and optics and the ability to play with it all) or aesthetics (it's all about the image) or indeed using a "It's just like PS" approach ...

Though as Prof_Pixel says, nothing beats a demo, so you could always go along with a bleached print and redevelop it in front of their eyes ...

[MattKing]

Project an actual slide or two.

And if you have a reasonably large print, made from a 35mm negative, show them both.