The Resident
Community
Photo lab keeps black-and-white art alive
By Michael Rizzo
When Felipe Vazquez took a photography course in college last year, it was his first time working with black and white film--a hobby that quickly turned into a full-time passion.
Vazquez now makes a once-a-week 45-minute trip from his home in Newark down to San Jose to develop his photos in one of the area's only photo labs open to the general community. He's not the only one make regular treks to the lab to develop film.
Since the Dark Room at De-Bug opened last October at 701 Lenzen St. in the city's Rose Garden neighborhood, it has been attracting film photographers from throughout the Bay Area who say practicing their craft is anything but convenient.
"We'd make trips together to go to San Francisco or Hayward to go to darkrooms over there and print together. It's one thing that you can convert your bathroom or laundry room into a printing space, but there's nothing like a community space," says Charisse Domingo, the darkroom's manager.
The way the darkroom is operated is comparable to a library or club. The lab and equipment are available for public use for a $5 hourly rate, or patrons can purchase memberships for unlimited use. Memberships range from one month to a year and cost between $35 and $330. Anyone can join.
Community members donated about half of the equipment in the De-Bug room, which enables production of 35mm or medium format black-and-white film. Photographs can be developed into prints of all sizes up to 16x24 and all the materials needed are provided.
The idea for a community darkroom evolved from conversations among a group of local photographers who met regularly during "photo circles," get-togethers to share their passion for film.
"What began as a group that wanted to get together and talk about photography grew into a community where we talked about the stories behind our photos," Domingo says.
Digital photography may be more common nowadays, Domingo says, but the craft of film photography is still alive and full of excitement.
"There's nothing like seeing your first print come out," she says. "There's really nothing like it until you've been through that process and you know what it's like."
Every Saturday at noon or by appointment, Domingo, 34, and her partner, Isabel Gonzalez, 27, offer classes for those who have never had a darkroom experience or need to refresh their skills.
The trickiest part of the process is opening film canisters and loading negatives onto the developing reels, Gonzalez says, because it has to be done in complete darkness.
"It's not too hard once you practice," she says.
Domingo and Gonzalez also explain the different chemicals used to treat the film in both the developing and enlarging processes.
Lisette Bourne, who teaches a photography class at nearby Downtown College Prep, has been using the photo lab with her students. Some of the students use De-Bug's darkroom to work on class assignments. Others go for fun.
"The kids just love it," she says. "It's becoming a dying art. I told them they're lucky, and I think they know that."
Despite the digitalization of photography over the last decade, Bourne says, the technical aspects of film photography are still important to the medium.
"Not knowing how to do it by hand, you might not have a full sense of how to use some of those high-tech photo programs," she says. "It's important to know where things came from and how they evolved."
Bourne says she's been brainstorming ideas for workshops that will allow the darkroom and her photo class to continue to collaborate.
"Charisse and Isabel are really into what they're doing," she says. "They're so enthusiastic, and you can tell they love it."
In addition to darkroom training, the Dark Room at De-Bug also hosts almost monthly workshops featuring guest photo artists as lecturers. And outside of the darkroom, De-Bug's media lab provides community access to sound and video production equipment and produces a monthly community news journal in print and online.
"De-Bug has always been a community organization," Domingo says. "It's a family, and we grow together. We want to just keep raising the next generation of media producers. Whether young or old -- as long as you've got a story to say -- come into De-Bug: Here's the tools."
Local photographer Richard Babcock is scheduled to teach an on-site "City Landscapes" workshop in downtown San Jose on March 15. The cost is $25 and participants are asked to sign up at De-Bug in advance.
