Evenings like this were something we always envisaged when setting up darkroom. Indeed, we were about to announce our first one towards the end of 2019, when early rumblings of a pandemic forced it to be postponed. Thankfully, we are still here and the time seemed right to revive the idea.
Six members joined darkoom founders Verdi Yahooda, Dennis Yandoli and Philip Grey for a glass of wine and the opportunity to meet each other and talk about their work. New(ish) members Martin Corcoran and Philippe Reyniers were keen to get the group’s advice on how they might improve on the quality of some recent prints they had made. Alvaro Munoz-Aycuens brought along two of his favourite cameras and explained why they would be the ones he would take to a desert island. Christine Walter-Saxena, one of our first members, brought along a stunning liquid emulsion print as an example of some of her recent work that combines image and text, and told us about her adventures at the seaside exploring the possibilities of cyanotypes. John Spinks outlined the PHD he is currently undertaking, in which he is using images to confront and reimagine the notion of ‘place’. Finally, Luke Blackall proved size isn’t everything and that small prints can have real impact, with his sensual images of swans.
The success of this inaugural Lightworks has encouraged us to do it again in the autumn. Keep an eye out on the website or sign up for our InFocus newsletter for details of the next date.
