Amazing darkroom sign

[Photo-gear]

Two years ago, I registered to a photo club in my area, especially for doing some darkroom sessions. Once I showed up for the first reunion, I realized I was the only one caring for film. All the other 30 members were digitals. Some of them did not even have the slighest notion of a darkroom !

Anyhow, I finally got hold of the member responsible of the club equipment.

After getting the key of the darkroom door and checking out the equipment, I started wondering when was the last member that showed up in this room. Along the little dust cleaning and the general evaluation of the equipement, I got hold of one strange sign against a wall.

It was said this:

Be aware, you have to make sure your name is on the darkroom schedule before showing up. You might be badly surprise if not!

There was a little footnote beside the president's name : 2001.

[Jerevan]

I could imagine going in there, doing the usual darkroom stuff and after an hour or so in the dark, suddenly hearing shuffling noises in the darkness, and then someone (or something!) coughing and saying "hello?"...

[PhotoJim]

Sad but, alas, not terribly surprising.

[Photo-gear]

Sad but, alas, not terribly surprising.

Not too surprising, of course.
But, every time I get across something that reminds me the year 2000 or 2001, I realize the decline of film was too quick. Hopefully, the film industry is stabilized.

[Wolfeye]

You know what? I think people, just plain assumed film was being replaced by digital. That once they went digital there'd be no turning back. I know I did. I was fortunately a Minolta user, so there was no DSLR option, and by the time one came I had jumped into Canon.

See, I think that's really it. Everyone went digital because that's what you did. Not because you consciously thought "wow this is way better than film" but because that's just what was coming. Me, I've gone backwards, from never developing my own (since HS at least!) to doing it all, B&W and Color. I don't know if there's a camera club around here. If there is it's probably holding virtual meetings online. No sense being around actual people.

[T-grain]

Photo Gear, I also recall those years with tears in my eyes....but film is probably not going anywhere so soon, at least the BW stuff.
Here, in Europe, is encouraging that small companies like Adox, or even Efke or Foma are still doing well (it's not a multi-million business anymore, but it's still a breadbasket for many people)
I have heard from my relatives from Toronto that you can hardly get film to buy there (in a regular shop)....strange enough for a multi-million city....

Not too surprising, of course.
But, every time I get across something that reminds me the year 2000 or 2001, I realize the decline of film was too quick. Hopefully, the film industry is stabilized.

[Photo-gear]

To Wolfy,
I agree with you. Sometimes, marketing says to the customers what to buy, not the opposite...

To T-grain,
In Montréal, only serious photo retailers offer a respectable selection of films (3 or 4 in the Greater Montréal area) + pharmacies that carry mainly no-name color and B&W films + Fujifilms. But prices are quite high, so I tend to buy bulk film & papers from American distributors (Freestyle and Ultrafine Online).

In "One hour photo service", sometimes they just sell photo frames, tripods and digital cameras. Films shelves are empty.

The other day, in the countryside, an old clerk sold me his last Kodak Gold 100.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/inukshuk5/6921886813/

[Prof_Pixel]

Everyone went digital because that's what you did. Not because you consciously thought "wow this is way better than film" but because that's just what was coming.

Consumers went digital because it has one major advantage to them; immediacy. Sadly, we live in an 'I want it now' world.

[Ektagraphic]

I ran into a similar situation joining a club of 50 with nobody else that cared about film. They didn't have a darkroom though! That's awesome. Perhaps you can get others interested and back in the darkroom?

[Photo-gear]

I ran into a similar situation joining a club of 50 with nobody else that cared about film. They didn't have a darkroom though! That's awesome. Perhaps you can get others interested and back in the darkroom?

I stayed there 2 years without getting nobody interested. The vice-president once asked me, with a smile, after I took a shot with my K1000, where he could see the picture. That was not intended to hurt me, just a digital joke that shows no interest in the film handcraft.

Now, I have my own darkroom. BTW, I heard the club darkroom has been dismantled in order to leave some room for some other community needs. Same thing happened with an another much beautiful darkroom in another district. But there are still some public darkrooms around in my town.