Sometimes rules are made not to be broken

Yesterday I wrote about my first and certainly not my last dastardly mistake while working in a photography darkroom.* Basically they were hot, many times crowded, smelly (they generally reeked of rotten eggs and sweaty bodies because 45 years ago they were rarely air conditioned), dark (not absolute black, not light enough to read, but had a lightly orange ambient quality of light). It was an environment we learned to love (if you wanted to control how your negative was printed) because we didn’t know any better and their really wasn’t much better available. This was very primitive pre-digital days.

Basic Darkroom Rules

1) Be Clean. Cleanliness is extremely important and cannot be overstressed. If everyone is

slightly messy we’ll soon have one very large mess. Leave everything cleaner than you

found it! Remember, lack of cleanliness leads to contamination of the darkroom

environment, which will in turn mess up your photographic work.

Wash your hands. A tiny bit of fixer can make many nasty bleached fingerprints on your

negatives and prints. Developer and stop bath are bad for negatives, too. Photo chemicals

are not beneficial to your health --use laboratory common sense in the darkroom.

No Food. No Smoking.

2. Be Friendly. Friendliness makes the darkroom considerably more pleasant. Consideration of other people is very important. If someone is having difficulty, take the time to help them do it right so they don’t do something that everyone will regret. Make sure all users have given their explicit permission to have the room lights turned on before doing so.

3. Signing In. There is some paperwork associated with the darkroom. Keep in mind that it

exists for a purpose --so that those coming after you will know exactly what has happened in the darkroom at any time. Sign in every time you enter the darkroom. The sign-in sheet has spaces for your name, the date, the time, and comments. The ‘comments’ column is very important: If you fail to note a problem with the darkroom, or to correct it, the next user will correctly assume that it is your fault and responsibility. In the comments column,

you should also make note of any work that you have done, especially mixing chemicals.

4. Report All Accidents. If you think you’ve contaminated chemistry, exposed a box of paper, or broken equipment, immediately report what has happened to a staff member.

*writer’s note: I’m one of those weird learners who learns best by making mistakes, sometimes lots of mistakes (psychologist say that to hardwire something into your system you need to repeat it successfully 27 times), and learning from those mistakes. It’s a cumbersome process but it’s my cross to bear and I’ve learned to live with it. My wife hates it.