With access to the darkroom over lockdown impossible, I had to think of another way to begin to familiarise myself with the actions and methodologies associated with darkroom printing.
Being both a visual and situational learner*, I realised that this would be a difficult obstacle to overcome since I would have to be working from home. Most online resources I came across were more in a guidebook fashion relying heavily on written methodologies and discourse. This, I found to be much more challenging to retain and understand owing to the fact I had no physical run-through of the process to attach to memory.
This is where I turned to YouTube as a source of potential videos of the actual processes being performed by a pair of hands. As I would then be able to combine my sources of knowledge on the process and be in a better starting position when access to the darkrooms would again be possible.
Despite narrowing down to a process where I can learn darkroom skills remotely, there were still a few drawbacks and obstacles to my plan. One being that many of the videos online would be part of a progression of 'lessons' or sessions designed to be watched in series, with a clear level of progression into more advanced topics once the previous ones have been tried and practised and the student feels ready to progress. Without access to a studio that I could try out and test the covered topics, I would be at risk of learning wrongfully or not nuancing out my own methods as I go, which to me is vital to the success of my plan. Another issue being that many videos covering the desired topics would be made in a style that was not suitable for my learning requirements, namely, they would cut away from the physical process often at points breaking the visual process and interrupting the learning. One channel that I did come across that did not do this however was called 'Shoot Film Like a Boss' and is a UK based hobbyist photographer making videos and documenting the various working practices and methodologies he uses in his film photography. His series of videos on Darkroom processes and methods were of particular interest and I found them to be very informative, concise and explained in a manner befitting someone like myself who may not be fully versed in the often confusing and complex photographic lexicon.
Some Examples of the Darkroom videos I have been using and watching to familiarise myself with the processes and methodologies involved in printing.
* My learning and comprehension of subjects, theories and practices are vastly improved by being in the environment in which the lesson/workshop takes place.
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