harvey milk photo center

Harvey Milk Photo Center website

San Francisco

I’m just going to make this a short post, as the fact is I haven’t been to San Francisco for a number of years, and I haven’t visited the Harvey Milk Rec Center since 1994. However, it appears to still be a good resource for darkroom printing and photography classes. Since part of the goal of this blog is to promote such places I thought I’d give it at least a quick post.

The way I remember this darkroom was that it was a large open common space with enlargers along the walls and chemistry trays and sinks in the center. I also remember it as being fairly economical. Key factor for me in the 90’s.

I did take at least one class there and as I mentioned in a previous post I really did get a lot out of it. But it has been a long time, so I certainly count vouch for anything at this stage. It’s entirely possible that everything is much better now than when I was going there.

Regardless, its a worthwhile resource for anyone in the Bay Area who wants to take classes or use a darkroom.

icp

International Center of Photography website

New York City

Classes, public darkroom access, volunteer opportunities, museum, bookstore… the International Center of Photography has all of these things. It is truly a one of a kind organization that combines a central location in Manhattan (43rd St & 6th Avenue), with great facilities.

The darkrooms have current, well maintained, equipment and are available to rent on an hourly basis for members. Another option for gaining darkroom access is to volunteer at the darkroom equipment office. Not sure if this still works the same way, but the last time I did this (2009), for every hour you worked you were allowed an hour in the darkroom free of charge. However, you had to volunteer for a minimum of 20 hours (approximately 5 weeks) first before you could access the darkroom.

After you’ve done that for a certain period of time, you can also volunteer as a teacher’s assistant for one of the many classes that ICP offers. The one time I did this I assisted a teacher in a Beginning B&W film class, which covered the fundamentals of SLR photography, along with how to develop your film and print in the darkroom. While you spend a fair amount of time getting things ready and cleaning up after the class, I found assisting to be very rewarding during the class hours. It’s an opportunity to pass on whatever knowledge you have, as well as learning a bit here and there from very knowledgeable and talented faculty teaching the courses. Also, you get to witness a generally highly motivated excited group of students exploring traditional photography for the first time. The students range from adult professionals, to international and local students.

I haven’t actually ever taken any classes there, but ICP has a very good reputation for both high quality facilities and very talented teachers. It’s certainly not the cheapest place to take a photography class, but maybe the old adage, ‘you get what you pay for,’ applies here. Personally, I’m not sure as I could never afford their fees.

The Museum also frequently has top notch expeditions which include work from ICP’s own image library, as well as traveling exhibitions (not 100% sure about this). Many of the exhibits showcase photography that you just can’t see anywhere else. The new exhibition space, as of a few years ago, is also a great, modern venue for seeing photography.

I haven’t visited their Museum shop/bookstore for a while, but from what I remember their collection of photography books spanned a wide spectrum from a variety of publishers that you can’t always find in your average chain bookstore.

photofusion

Photofusion website

Located in Brixton, London

What a great resource. The equipment may not be brand new, but its well maintained and the staff know what they’re doing. Membership is required to book time in the darkroom, but while it is normally £50 a year for membership, they do sometimes have special deals on membership. I think I paid £25 last year.

The darkroom rates are currently £32 for 6 hours, which includes all chemistry. All you need to bring is your negatives and some paper to print on. If I remember correctly there are 4 B&W enlargers, but from my experience the darkroom is rarely full. Also, there are 4 (?) color enlargers, in their own rooms. These can also be used for B&W printing when they are available.

You can also book time to process your own film upstairs. I haven’t used those facilities so I can’t really comment on them.

I have had some film processed at Photofusion in the past. I forget the cost, but to be honest I wasn’t thrilled with the results. While Metro Imaging is much more expensive, with negatives, I always think its better to be safe than sorry.

Photofusion also has a variety of classes, but again I haven’t taken any yet, so can’t really recommend them. I will say that they have at least one staff person who is an expert printer, who produces some really beautiful prints in the darkroom. With people like that on staff, I would guess the odds of the classes being worthwhile is pretty good.

I believe they also offer a variety of other digital services and classes.

It really was a godsend to find this place in London.