there’s an element of peace to working in a darkroom.
when i’m developing film in trays, my bathroom is so dark it doesn’t matter if you close your eyes or not. it’s such a neat feeling, closing your eyes and not seeing any difference. somehow my eyes seem more relaxed when my eyelids are covering them even when there is no reason to strain otherwise. i seem to naturally concentrate on sounds. the muffled sound of music coming through the door, or the steady piezoelectric beeps from the enlarger timer. sometimes it feels like i can hear my own thoughts.
when i am loading film in complete darkness, there is a lot of physical work to do. unpackage the film, set it up, removing dark slides, loading film, stacking the loaded holders. again, eyes closed or not, there is nothing to see. i might as well be looking up or side to side. sometimes i intentionally look up as i work. it feels like i’m performing some sort of trick.. doing a task without looking. as if i could look if i wanted.
most of my darkroom work is done with light, ironically. a low, reddish “safe light” which emits a special color not seen by photographic paper. it takes a while for your eyes to adjust. it’s not the overly bright red light of darkrooms you see in the movies. it’s much darker. and when objects cast shadows, the shadows are a very deep black. i try to keep my safe light up near the ceiling, where it can reflect and diffuse into the room fairly evenly, even if faint.
under the safe light, it pays to keep your eyes open. i’m sure the irisises of my eyes are wide open, letting in as much light as possible so i can see what i’m doing. working in a darkroom is peaceful. the only noise is made by what you’re doing and the trusty timer that may click, beep, or buzz, letting you know when your current task is over.
especially now that there are two enlargers in my darkroom, there is not much room for anybody else. darkroom work for me has always been a solo affair. once in a while i’ll have a guest to show what i like doing, but my nervousness always prevails. i make mistakes. but when i’m not putting on a show, my instincts take over. and i finish the evening with an entire roll of paper towells used; large prints laying on my living room floor. air drying, hopefully not catching too much dust before they dry completely. when i wake up the next morning, i walk out of my bedroom in a slumber, eyeing the dried, glossy prints. not feeling the ache in my back any more from kneeling over an easel or wiping the water off a print. it’s like christmas.
