No.201: Light and Dark

No philosophical questions today just a small personal diary record to look back on.

Today I was light proofing the room which is to be my new darkroom. Not so much new as much as my old darkroom in a different place. Either way it'll be great to be back up and running with the 35mm.

Photographers are always whinging about light levels and none more so than me today. Filling in the cracks around the door and measuring up the windows for light proof shutters. It's funny how the studio space which is where my living room was with its bright white walls and many different kinds of flashes is dedicated to as much light as possible. A haven for light where every bit of light is so preciously guided to where it's needed. Then literally a stark contrast in the darkroom where every effort is made to ban such light from even entering the space and even that which does is discouraged from reflecting about the place.

Keeping 35mm alive is a constant battle because digital is so very widely available and so instant in its results with great ease of sharing. But it has something special, a much more direct and obvious link with light itself. A chemical reaction seems so much more integrated with the subject than an electrical signal created by a sensor.

The word "photography" is a combination of the Greek root words "photo-," meaning "light," and "-graphia," meaning "writing" or "drawing." Thus, "photography" literally means "writing or drawing with light." - www.reference.com