In 2004 or so, I set up a very primitive darkroom in my garage. My darkroom workspace was an old drafting board held up by two folding chairs; my sink was the same utility sink that the washing machine emptied into; my safelights were LED tail lights I’d borrowed from my bicycles. I did my paper sensitizing for my alternative process prints on a proper, wall-mounted bench in a different part of the garage at night, with my UV light box hanging from the open beams of the ceiling for exposures, just steps away from storage boxes and the household water heater.
The setup wasn’t one that I would want to see in a magazine that shows of artists’ studios: it was very… provisional. But I made some really fun work there.
I packed up my darkroom for some structural work in 2015… the work still hasn’t been done, and yet my darkroom is still packed up!
Looking back at my earliest work, I remember how much fun it was to make – learning something new every day! – and how much I miss it. The question is: with my permit for the work theoretically about to be issued, is now a time to unpack any of it? (Or, will unpacking and preparing to make work somehow trigger the permit to finally issue??) Stay tuned!
