To be here Darkroom Photography
2025
Without air, the earth would be lifeless; without water, weather, and living conditions, we cannot exist. Air is essential for our presence on this planet.
I wanted to find an abstract way to visualize air. I was also curious about how water behaves on photographic paper in the darkroom. This led me to experiment with bubbles. I bought soap and straws and created bubbles directly on the photo paper. This is a technique I’ve previously used in ceramics, but here I could explore it within the medium of photography. The bubbles also contain another essential element - water - which we also depend on to exist.
I also see the bubbles as symbols: the bubbles together can represent a community. Each bubble is individual, different in size and shape, yet together they create something bigger, like our society. A society we are all a part of and present in. The way the bubbles cluster together also illustrates a form of connection - much like the invisible bonds that link humans to one another and to everything around us.
I wanted the images to stand on their own, yet still connect and create a sense of movement and flow. The bubbles in the second image are meant to “slide over” into the third. I also like the contrast between softness and sharpness, and to the subtle “gray shadow”behind the bubbles. I think it brings depth, variation and makes the image feel more dynamic.
Presence
In the course Darkroom Photography at UTS, we worked with a 35mm manual SLR camera and learned darkroom printing techniques, including film exposure and print enlargement. This was a huge contrast to the fast pace of modern life. This encourage a slower, more reflective approach to photography.
One of our assignments was an experimental photography project around the theme of presence. We had to create a series of three black and white prints, each 8×10 cm - all sharing the same format and tied together by one idea, like a little story told across three images.
This time we only used the enlarger lens, playing around with different objects and materials, exposure times, and movements to get the result we were after. Here is my interpretation:
