Welcome to The Sheffield Darkroom
As someone who could earnestly be described as a “DSLR-girlie”, I felt curious when I heard about Sheffield’s new darkroom. The only publicly available one, surprisingly, in a city rich with creative practice. I first thought: “How exciting!” Then I began to wonder what it might look like, who might be behind it and why. These questions were answered on my first visit, as I met co-founders Sam Devito and Chris Morris at The Sheffield Darkroom’s launch event in late October.
The first room I, along with other attendees, was ushered down the stairs into was described as a “test space”. An intimate black and white darkroom with equipment I didn’t recognise as someone who has never used a darkroom before. As I looked around in awe, I was encouraged by the news that every member gets a free induction – 30 minutes or an hour, depending on what they might need.
Around me were photography beginners, experts, writers and general creatives, all equally invited to sign up to the new community. Both Sam and Chris (separately) described to me their goals of making the space accessible, to work with vulnerable groups and eventually expand their test darkroom into avenues of colour. There is a huge room just opposite the black and white darkroom just waiting for them to do this.
