Darkroom research

A darkroom is a room which is made completely dark for the purpose of developing photographs with the use of light sensitive photographic paper. Darkrooms are used for creating photographs from the negatives which are produced from the reel of film used to take pictures on conventional cameras. When working within a colour dark room, the room must be completely dark as the paper is sensitive to all types of light however when working within a black and white dark room, a red safe light must be used for vision as the paper for black and white photographs is not sensitive to red light but it is sensitive to all other types of light.

The equipment found in a dark room usually consists of an enlarger and a processing bay. The enlarger is used to turn the small negative into the large final print. It does this by working in the same way that a projector works. You insert the negative you wish to you into the negative holder, place the negative holder into the enlarger and the enlarger projects light through the negative projecting the image onto the board below. This light image will later be transferred onto the light sensitive paper and this is what created the photograph.

The processing bay in the dark room consists of 4 trays containing 4 different liquids which all do different things in order to produce the photograph. The first tray in the processing bay contains the developer this initially reveals the image on the paper. The second tray contains the stop which stops the developing process. The third tray contains the fix which stops the photograph from fading over time and the fourth and final tray contains constant running water to rinse the photographs after they have been through the developing process.

During my research I found a list of health and safety rules to be followed when working these are as follows:

Darkroom General Safety Rules:

o    Limit access to the darkroom. Only approved persons should be allowed to work in the room.

o    Practice good housekeeping. Keep the work area clean and uncluttered to prevent tripping over hazardous chemical bottles.

o    Separate the wet and dry areas.

o    Always segregate chemicals. (Don’t store acids near reducer).

o    Use the least toxic chemicals available. Avoid cyanides, heavy metals and developers containing pyrocatechol or pyrogallol when possible.

o    Do not store chemicals on the floor.

o    Do not eat, drink or smoke in the darkroom.

o    The darkroom should be well ventilated.

o    Wear appropriate protective equipment whenever possible, such as gloves, goggles, etc.)

o    Always wash hands with soap and warm water after working with chemicals.

o    Know how to use emergency equipment prior to an actual emergency.

o    Always Add Acid to water, never water to acid. (Remember ‘AAA’)

o    Keep a spill kit in the darkroom.

o    Do not use paper towels or saw dust to clean up acid spills as this may cause a fire.

o    Pregnant women should not be exposed to powdered developer.

o    Store all chemicals in locations that will minimize the chance of breakage and splashing.

o    Label all containers.

o    Keep all containers and trays closed or covered when not in use to prevent the release of toxic gases.

o    Do not wash any chemicals down the sink (exceptions noted below).
• All spent chemicals should be placed into an appropriate waste container. (A container the same as the one the chemical was originally shipped in is best).

I found this list of health and safety rules on the website http://www.lomography.com/