moving history into the future
i signed up for a darkroom photography class at truman college in chicago. i had been eyeing this class for quite some time, but felt that any personal interests should be trumped by actual learning, i.e., chemistry, math, that kind of crap. well, i said "to hell with that" and signed up for the continuing ed class. the first meeting was last night at 7pm and it goes until 10pm.
i was EXCEPTIONALLY excited to be going to this class. not only do i know my way around darkroom, but i think i do it well and i am passionate about it. unlike chemistry, where i had no idea what was in store for me and i had no idea if i was even going to get past the first week, let alone through chem 1 & 2.
the photo lab at truman is nothing to write home about except for one amazing fact: they have one. in this day of digital photography, the printed image has been dying a slow death. and i realized last night how close to flat lining it really is. i found out that they stopped making Kodak Infrared film, a type of film near and dear to my heart. they stopped making this amazing developer called Microdol-X. slowly, things are becoming harder and harder to find. i mentioned that i had an Omega-II condenser that i store in my mom's closet because there was no way in hell i was going to get rid of it, only because i knew i could never find another one like it.
i think a lot of us (there are only really 5) are taking this class to enjoy the last hurrah of a medium that was once a revolution in technology. it makes me really sad to see it go. to here that UM closed its darkroom in lieu of digital technology. that polaroid is also going the way of dodo. that i can't just go down to walgreens or best buy to get a battery for my film camera. and now i'm wondering where the hell i'm going to get decent film. i used to be able to buy black and white at CVS. ha! not anymore.
i know it will never really go away. and the end will just end up being like the beginning. it's not like deguerre or henry fox talbot had Microdol-X or a local photo shop they could run down to. they made their own cameras, their own film, their own chemicals. if a small amount of us can horde enough of the stuff that's available now, and maybe find some stuff that isn't, then we can keep it alive. in our hearts, anyway.
i was EXCEPTIONALLY excited to be going to this class. not only do i know my way around darkroom, but i think i do it well and i am passionate about it. unlike chemistry, where i had no idea what was in store for me and i had no idea if i was even going to get past the first week, let alone through chem 1 & 2.
the photo lab at truman is nothing to write home about except for one amazing fact: they have one. in this day of digital photography, the printed image has been dying a slow death. and i realized last night how close to flat lining it really is. i found out that they stopped making Kodak Infrared film, a type of film near and dear to my heart. they stopped making this amazing developer called Microdol-X. slowly, things are becoming harder and harder to find. i mentioned that i had an Omega-II condenser that i store in my mom's closet because there was no way in hell i was going to get rid of it, only because i knew i could never find another one like it.
i think a lot of us (there are only really 5) are taking this class to enjoy the last hurrah of a medium that was once a revolution in technology. it makes me really sad to see it go. to here that UM closed its darkroom in lieu of digital technology. that polaroid is also going the way of dodo. that i can't just go down to walgreens or best buy to get a battery for my film camera. and now i'm wondering where the hell i'm going to get decent film. i used to be able to buy black and white at CVS. ha! not anymore.
i know it will never really go away. and the end will just end up being like the beginning. it's not like deguerre or henry fox talbot had Microdol-X or a local photo shop they could run down to. they made their own cameras, their own film, their own chemicals. if a small amount of us can horde enough of the stuff that's available now, and maybe find some stuff that isn't, then we can keep it alive. in our hearts, anyway.
posted by mikraas at 12:52 PM
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