During September to December of this year, I was very fortunate to take part in a Darkroom Photography course. I had never taken film photos before, but I have had a digital camera (DSLR) for quite a few years now. Some of that experience carried over, but not all of it did. It was fascinating learning how to visualize the colored world before me into one of black-and-white.
I shot on a Pentax ZX-10 35mm SLR Film Camera, one that I purchased secondhand; I felt this was true to the nature of finding the beauty of old and analog processes inherent to darkroom photography.
These are my favorites from across the fall:
Another process that we took part in was hand oil coloring. Based on a photo I took of my grandmother’s garage, I was able to go back in and color the original black-and-white photograph (just like the ones above!) and give it the appearance of color. This was a time-consuming but very relaxing practice.
Overall, this was such a positive experience for me. Being required to slow down and do every single part by hand was absolutely illuminating and so enjoyable. I have a few more rolls of film I’m excited to keep shooting in the future!
Hazel J. Hall 
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