The Sustainable Darkroom is a London based initiative run by artists to equip photographers with the tools needed to develop an environmentally friendly darkroom practice. It was founded by Hannah Fletcher and is now run by her alongside Ed Carr and Alice Cazenave. It takes the form of publications, workshops, residencies, symposiums and training sessions, working alongside scientists and experts.
On their website it says that they “intend to lead a movement in challenging the environmental impact and sustainability of darkroom practices.”. This sentence made me consider the effect of darkrooms in a way that I had never thought about before. Analogue photography is often presented as kinder to the environment than digital photography but it just has a different impact on the planet.
I find the multidisciplinary approach to this intervention inspirational. I like how there are many different ways that they aim to educate photographers about how they can still use darkrooms but in an environmentally friendly way. I also appreciate the fact that this intervention was created in collaboration with scientists, as I think sometimes it’s easier to believe things when an expert is involved, especially when it comes to science or things that are hard to digest.
I also find it interesting that The Sustainable Darkroom has its own manifesto. I think outlining their aims, and how they are going to try to accomplish them is very successful, and something that I would consider doing for my own project. Writing down their aims and their purpose sets out very clearly what they are trying to do without having to read through a lot of materials trying to work it out for yourself. This makes their website very user friendly and easy to navigate, as well as not allowing any ambiguity about their purpose and goals.
When Hannah appeared on the Photo Ethics podcast she spoke about wanting to create a ‘holistic ecosystem within photography’. I find holistic a slightly scary term because I don’t fully understand it, especially not in this context. However I like the idea of creating a new ecosystem within an already existing and flourishing system. I also like this phrase because it implies that the photography industry is alive and changeable. This makes me hopeful for my project and that change is possible.
https://www.photoethics.org/podcast/hannah-fletcher