A selection of temporary or mobile darkrooms –
SONIC VIGIL: Breathing Space Collective
As part of the process of documenting Breathing Space’s working practice, as they undertook a residency in St Augustine’s Tower in Hackney, Guy Paterson and myself set up temporary darkrooms both in the grounds and within the tower.
Results of the project can be found in Personal Practice.
Mobile van darkroom.
ON LIGHT FESTIVAL
As part of the Wellcome Trusts ON LIGHT festival, where artists and scientists came together to share and explore the significance of light in our lives, Tina Rowe, Almudena
Romero and myself ran a mobile Wet Plate Photobooth.
Little Red Van
Over the summer Ive been doing up a micro van to use to transport my bicycle trailer darkroom so I can go further afield. Nearly ready for a test trip along the South Coast.
Launched the van at an event as part of the London Analogue Festival at Double Negative darkroom in September.
Resource Magazine Article
Click HERE for article
Local artists will be exhibiting their work in shops and venues all over Stoke Newington and Dalston for one month for the first COS Artwalk – Colours of Stokey – Festival.
During the ArtWalk the Dalston Eastern Curve Garden will become an outside photographic studio. Following in the tradition of ‘itinerant photography’, Douglas Nicolson will be demonstrating the historical photographic wet plate process and documenting the garden and its visitors with a fully functioning photography darkroom mounted on a bicycle trailer.
The wet plate process, invented mid 1800s, produces fine detailed one-off positive images. The process involves sensitising a metal or glass plate in a bath of Silver Nitrate. The plate is then exposed in-camera and developed immediately. All this needs to be done within fifteen minutes and this is where the need for a mobile darkroom comes from.
An evolving exhibition of the work produced by Douglas will be in the Garden’s ‘Pineapple House’.
An unexpected and enjoyable meeting with ALICE BERNARDO
Bicycle Trailer Darkbox
Ill be demonstrating the mobile bicycle trailer darkroom on the 14th September during the London Design Festival at Pavilion East.
Check out the video here
Full program of events here
An unexpected and enjoyable meeting with MASA HAMANOI.
Double Negative tintype tent
Roll Up, Roll Up! Come and experience having your portrait taken using the historic photographic wet plate process. All courtesy of Double Negative Darkroom at Standon Calling Festival (www.standon-calling.com) on the 2nd – 4th of August 2013.
This summer the Standon Calling Festival theme is ‘Running Away From the Circus’. Think bright lights, late nights, smoke, mirrors, music, madness and the strangest people on Earth. Double Negative Darkroom will be there with its wet plate tintype darktent and a pop up bicycle trailer darkbox to document the festivities and festival goers,
The wet plate process, invented mid 1800s, produces fine detailed one-off positive images. The process involves sensitising a metal or glass plate in a bath of Silver Nitrate. Before the plate dries it is exposed and then developed. All this needs to be done within 15 minutes and where the need for field darkrooms comes from.
Sebastian Sussmann founded Double Negative Darkroom in 2009, which has evolved into a vibrant photographic and artistic community with a strong backbone of teaching and workshops. Based in Hackney, East London, Double Negative Darkroom and the adjoining gallery and photo studio, provide resources, teaching and community to all those interested in analogue photography and specialise in Fine Art B&W hand printing & alternative processes.
The bicycle trailer darkbox was developed as part of a residency at Double Negative Darkroom by Douglas Nicolson, who is working with wet plate collodion photography. After being so taken with the idea of a bike trailer darkbox local bike shop, The Hackney Peddler (facebook.com/hackneypeddler), are also supporting the project and helping kit the bike out – so look out for something interesting emerging from The Hackney Peddler workshop!
If you are planning on going to Standon Calling come along and have your wet plate portrait taken courtesy of the festival– we will be easy to find as we will be pitched right beside the forest of freaks!
Setting up a darkroom for pinhole workshop as part of a collaboration with local NGO Escola Melhor at a primary school in Maputo, Mocambique.
Running a pinhole workshop at Kulangwana Art Gallery, Maputo, Mocambique.
Setting up a darkroom for a pinhole workshop at National School of Visual Arts (ENAV), Maputo, Mocambique.
KITCHEN SINK PHOTOGRAPHY is a mobile darkroom that works with alternative and historic photographic practices and runs socially engaged art projects alongside workshops for the general public. It aims to open up the pleasure of home processing and hand printing photographic images to those that may not have access to, or space for, a photographic darkroom.
If you are interested in using photography in your community project please get in touch (dnicolson@hotmail.com)
An example of the type of workshop that can be held with a mobile darkroom
The cyanotype photographic process has been around for a while. The English scientist Sir John Herschel discovered it in 1842! In 1844 botanist Anna Atkins used it to produce the images for the first ever book illustrated with photographs.
This iron based process produces paper sensitive to UV light. This means that photographs can be hand printed in beautiful rich blue tones without the need for a photographic darkroom, enlarger or developing chemicals.
INTRO TO CYANOTYPE PRINTING WORKSHOP
By the end of the workshop participants should be confident in printing their own images using the cyanotype process.
Workshop content:
Creating your negative (analog and digital)
- Intro to medium and large format vintage cameras
- Creating your own digital negatives from a digital file
Making your own photography paper
- Chemicals and suppliers
- Health and safety
- Types of materials that can be used
- Application of chemicals
- Drying and storage
Cyanotype printing
- History
- Setting up a home work area
- Pictograms
- Contact printing negatives
- Washing and toning
To discuss booking or arranging a workshop email dnicolson@hotmail.com
Douglas Nicolson 
Great blog you haave here