photography can be toxic if not properly handled,
are corrosive, and emit fumes. A properly ventilated
darkroom continuously extracts fumes and brings in
dust-free air, has proper plumbing to handle the
corrosive chemicals, and stands apart from everyday
activities to prevent contamination.
Most home and all professional darkrooms fea-
ture ‘‘dry’’ and ‘‘wet’’ areas. The dry area of the
darkroom ideally is dust-free and contains the
enlarger, timer, paper trimmer, and cabinet for
negatives and paper storage. The wet area houses
the mixed chemicals, including developer, stop
bath, fixer and toners, water, various trays, a
sink, and drying racks.
For print processing, the entire darkroom can be
illuminated with the safelight. This light is generally
a red or a low-wattage amber filtered bulb, which
relies on the fact that most photographic papers are
not sensitive to this end of the light spectrum. Yet
any safelight too close to photographic paper will
fog it to some degree, and papers left exposed for
prolonged time periods will also fog.
When working with film, most photographers’
first step is to create contact or proof sheets, which
provide a one-to-one record of the image on the
negatives. Specialized holders are available to flat-
ten the negatives against a glass frame into which is
inserted a sheet of photo paper; the holder is then
placed under the light of the enlarger. A short burst
of light from the enlarger exposes the paper, which
then is processed. The contact sheet is not only
used to better judge which frames are best to be
printed, but provides a record of the exposed film.
When working with films that require enlarge-
ment (generally 35 mm and 2 ¼ and 45 formats,
although any film can be enlarged), the negative is
inserted into a holder, which is placed between the
enlarger’s light source, a large lens called a conden-
ser that focuses or diffuses the light, and its inter-
changeable lens with an aperture to control
sharpness and depth-of-field. The photographic
paper is generally placed in an easel frame, which
holds the paper flat, preventing distortion of the
image as it is projected through the enlarger.
Many modern enlargers have built-in timers, or an
independent timer is coordinated with the manual
switching on and off of the light source. Many
photographers use trip strips where a piece of
paper is exposed in increasingly longer settings
through the same negative in order to determine
the optimal exposure for the final print.
Enlargers traditionally have been manufactured
as ‘‘diffuser’’ or ‘‘condenser’’ enlargers. The diffu-
ser enlarger spreads the light more evenly across
the negative; hence, the contrast is not as apparent.
A diffuser enlarger is used to make color prints, but
offers satisfactory black and white capabilities,
whereas the condenser enlarger offers excellent
capability for sharp, high contrast images. The
condenser enlarger focuses the light, directing it
straight through the negative to the lens. Among
the enlarger’s capabilities is changing the distance
between the lens and the paper and thus controlling
the size of the final image. A sharp, well-exposed
negative allows a greater range of size of the final
print, yet even a perfectly-exposed negative be-
comes ‘‘softer’’ as the distance between the negative
and the photographic paper is increased.
As well, during the enlargement exposure, dod-
ging, burning-in, and cropping can be employed.
The aperture of the enlarger can be set at a smaller
opening requiring a longer light exposure, and thus
allowing further manipulation of the amount of
light falling on any given area of the photo paper.
All manner of specialized filters and screens to
create specialized effects may also be employed,
such as filters that increase contrast or provide
textures (such as ‘‘stone-washed’’) or patterns
(such as ‘‘herringbone’’). Fogging or solarization
can also be affected before the paper has been
further processed.
After the paper has been exposed, it is ‘‘fixed’’
generally in a bath of commonly called ‘‘hypo’’ that
stops the developing process by dissolving any
remaining sensitive silver from the print. Some
photographers use a stop bath between the de-
veloper and fixer. The stop bath neutralizes the de-
veloping agent. Advanced darkroom printmakers
often mix their own chemicals for effects rather
than adhere to the prepackaged instructions. Dark-
room photography is about experimenting with the
science of light and chemical reactions.
As these chemicals break down in the light they
must be stored in tightly sealed and lightproof plas-
tic jugs. Disposal of used or unneeded photographic
chemicals should be done with extreme care. Kodak
offers helpful information on its web site.
Once the print is chemically processed, it must be
carefully washed to remove all traces of the various
chemicals in which it has been bathed. Further
manipulation by toning agents may be employed
while the print is still wet. While some of these
effects are strictly aesthetic, some, like gold-toning,
increase the final print’s archival qualities. The print
is then dried in a dust-free environment.
The color darkroom follows the same basic pro-
cedures, with added attention on the variety of
chemicals used, their optimal specific temperatures
and use of filters to achieve and modulate the color.
Commercial darkrooms feature all processes inDARKROOM