Slow Pictures

In recent years photographer Tom Goldner felt like he was missing out on something with digital. “Analog photography and darkroom printing has always had a pretty special place in my practice because it’s always allowed me to slow down and really concentrate on what I’m doing,” he says. “We come from a world now with digital photography where everything is so mass produced.”

So Goldner found what’s a pretty incredible warehouse space in the back-blocks of Kensington and began building a working darkroom where photographers could process their own photos, and named it The Fox Darkroom. The local photographic community kicked in; photo schools donated their unused sinks, cameras and enlargers. “Within the darkroom we have five stations with five enlargers and a massive sink which can cater for up to five people quite comfortably,” he says. “One thing I’m quite proud of, and that’s been really nice about this whole process, is that all our equipment has had a second life.”

Experienced developers can sign up for a yearly membership and then book the darkroom at leisure (all chemicals are included, and paper, film and frames are available at cost price). If you don’t know your elbow from your enlarger, Goldner is running workshops on the basics of shooting and developing analog film. “Even photographers that I’ve worked with, quite a few of them have never stepped foot in a darkroom,” he says. “I think one of the real advantages of analog photography is that you have to be deliberate about your process; from the moment you pick what kind of film you want to use.”

The Fox Darkroom

10 Elizabeth Street, Kensington

thefoxdarkroom.com.au

Tim Grey shot the photography for this story on film and developed it at Fox Darkroom.