In college, I took a Photography course that I lost hours of my life to. It wasn’t so much the taking of the pictures as the developing of them. In the dark room, my headphones on and playing soulful music (think Joni Mitchell or Simon & Garfunkl), six hours or more could pass before I realized I was parched and starving.
And probably high from chemical fumes. They do say that you’re supposed to take a breather every hour or so. Oops.
One of my favorite pictures from that course was actually from our first assignment, which was simply to go out into Boston and photograph people. I was too chicken to try to approach strangers to ask to photograph them, or to look like a creepy stalker photographing them from afar, so I took a different approach. I photographed from behind, so that they would never know.
Honestly, probably way more creepy than a snapshot from afar, but at least I didn’t have to confront anyone, and I could pretend it was my “artistic vision.”
This photo was taken in Quincey Market, which anyone who’s been to Boston knows is a tourist hub, full of street performers, food, and silly little things to buy that at that moment you need but will soon forget exist as soon as you get home.
(Unless it’s my beloved Charlie Chaplin purse, which I adore to this day. But that’s an entirely different matter.)
The girl in this photo was definitely a tourist, and was enthralled by a guy on stilts. (I have a picture of him somewhere, too.)
In class that week, my professor put my print on the board as an example of having a good color balance: black blacks and white whites. I was so proud it was kind of ridiculous. I probably even called to tell my mom, a virtual A+ paper on the fridge.
Sadly, I never made it back to the board again. I think I was trying too hard, and I never quite found a moment like this again that semester.
But I lost days of my life in that dark room trying, humming along to “A Case of You.”
Do you prefer old-fashioned dark rooms or playing in Photoshop? Email me at darkroomdreams@gmail.comwith some of your favorite work, or comment below!
