Somewhere on this blog is some info concerning my darkroom set up, but this time around the pictures are even more laden with (text-based) information. Setting up a basic darkroom is far easier than most people realize. Cheaper than you might think, too. Once you get an enlarger and a lens, a timer, a safelight(bulb) and trays, the major investment is over. From there the costs lies only in the paper and chemicals. While both have increased in price, the latter is still surprisingly affordable. I can print all day on about 700 yen’s worth of papitol and fixer.
A FACT: Whenever I am let into someone’s apartment for first time, I always mentally lay out in my mind how I would set up a darkroom in their place. First you got to find space for the developing trays. . .
START:
On a print day I wake up at 6am, eat breakfast, and try to have my first print in the developer by 8 or 9am. I tend to do print sessions that last several hours.
The first part of the prep is to lower the metal shutters on my back window. Granted, this takes 2 seconds and it a lot faster than having to seal off windows with black cloth and tape. The only window I need to mask off is a small, narrow one in my shower room. This is done with black tape and a used photo paper plastic bag, the same one I’ve used for the past 4 years.
1. The enlarger sits on the dining table in the living room. The light fixture has a safelight bulb screwed in where a yellowish 60W bulb used to be. The other safelight lights up the developing area.
2. No matter what size of prints you might make, it is a good idea to lay down larger trays to hold the trays that hold the chemicals. There is board over the stove to support everything.
Fujifilm’s Papitol comes in powder packets that make 8 liters of developer each. I mix the 8 liters, and pour them into a 10 liter jug. On a day like today where I made fifty 10×12 contact sheets, I can get by with using 4 liters the entire day at a cost of about 300 yen.
The stop bath is some acid mixed in with 4 liters of water, one 500 yen jug lasts about a year. The fan above the stove takes care of ventilation issues.
Once the print has sat in the stop bath, it is time for the fixer. I have a spare tray to transport the prints to my bathroom.
3. Another 18×22 tray sits on the floor to contain the smaller tray that holds the fix. I use Kodak’s powdered fix-mix, one bag makes a gallon of fixer and lasts an entire print session. The fan in the shower helps with the fumes, but a little bit of light comes in through the fan vent. Usually I lay the transport tray over the fixer when prints are in it to help cut down on the light.
The bathtub is just ever so slightly wider than the large trays, and one tray fits snugly on the top. I keep the previously mentioned 10L jug of developer on the floor of the bath to support the one end of the wash tray that sags down into the tub.
Amazingly everything fits perfectly for my purposes. But I know I am a Bad Person for washing fix down the drain. Any morally superior suggestions as how to dispose of fixer in Japan are welcome.
4. While it is easy to print non-stop for several hours, it is important that you have space to dry your prints after they are washed. I have three lines in my spare room that I use. To save space I dry fiber prints pinned back to back. This also helps prevent curling.
Since RC prints will stick when set up in the same way, I usually just hang them diagonally. Today’s print run left me with more contact sheets than I had space to dry them, hence the creative attachments. I got a 100 sheet box of slightly expired Fujibrp WP FM4 RC-based paper at Yodobashi for half price, and while the contrast is quite high, the cost came to a low 50 yen a sheet.
5. While the prints are hanging to dry, it is time to wash out the trays. Again my stove fan comes in handy to dry everything.
Wait a few hours, and everything is done. I flatten my fiber prints by putting them back in the black plastic bag and green Fujifilm envelope that they came in, and then putting them under a stack of photo books or photo print boxes for a few days. The contact sheets above will go into B4 sized clear files after editing.
So that’s how I do it.
But, I admit I am not at all interested in the finer points of Darkroom Skills. I don’t care about experimenting with the differences of contrast by using the HC-110 “A” solution versus the “B” one or anything like that. Keeping things as consistent as possible in terms of film development, printing chemicals and paper selection is enough for me to make prints the way I wish. If I can’t do it with either a Zero filter and a #5 filter it isn’t worth messing with.
However, I truly enjoy printing and spending time in the darkroom. The one on one time you spend with an image encourages contemplation about not only the content of that individual picture, but also fosters a unique relationship with a process that focuses one’s concentration as to how and why someone brings a creation to light.
How you physically make pictures can help you get a feel for what you might be searching for when you take them.
That, and it never gets old watching a print appear in the developer.
Hopefully you might try it yourself sometime.
