Darkroom Camper Van

giganova

Well-known
Local time
11:13 AM
Joined
May 18, 2015
Messages
1,620
Location
Washington, DC
I'm having this obsession for a few weeks now that I'd love to buy a van, build a darkroom in the back of the van and tour the continent for a few weeks/months for the sole purpose of photography. Imagine: no need to book hotel/motel rooms, you can stop anywhere you want, stay over night for free, and process your images right in the back of your van!

Have any of you done that?
 
This would be a dream of mine as well !

I once saw a short documentary where a well known Polish photographer took his grandson on a similar trip in rural Poland somewhere
 
I never did it, but it was a daydream I had ~20 years ago. Being entirely digital capture now, I wouldn't need the darkroom aspect, but it would still be cool to make such trips.
 
My wife and I are renting a Class C RV in April for a week of exploration, unless of course something goes wonky. Then we'll pull in to the nearest motel and wait for the breakfast buffet! We've never used an RV before, so this is quite an adventure - I hope!
 
YES!!! Plumbing, holding tanks, mobility...

YES!!! Plumbing, holding tanks, mobility...

A small Class C RV would be the ticket. Water tanks and such already in, a little more room.

Friend of mine just purchased a 22 foot Class C in excellent condition for $2600. The Class C models are cheaper than class B which are simply van conversions. Sleeping for two-four, Comfort, eating, cooking, etc.

Convert the sleeping area, which is adjacent to the bathroom/shower. Close off the two small windows.. run a draw shade across at halfway or use daylight processing.

The unit he bought was in EXCELLENT condition, and he spent about $1000 fixing up some small issues. 454 and AC... uses gas, but the savings are on the accomodations.

You can get BLM camping... About $350 to use about $400 camp facilities in AZ and another $350 for near the same number in Ca. Some of the facilities have waste dumps and two week stays.

I know a couple who do AZ and Ca for 10 months out of the year and the two passes cover ALL their camp spots.
 
The thing that would get me (and most likely my wife) would be the chemical fumes in such a confined space. Make sure you have good ventilation.

Additionally, be careful of film/print processing and food prep areas colliding. Not good for the health, I'd think.
 
Funny. I have thought of this. I assumed that the work space would not double as living space. Nevertheless there were three things that I focused as major problems: 1) Dust, 2) a way to reduce vibrations/movement from shock absorbers/springs/motor, 2) air conditioning (see problems 1 and 2). I never worried too much about plumbing as I have had unplumbed darkrooms before. Print washing was done by moving prints between two 5-gallon plastic buckets, where prints would stand in progressively clean water until silver/thiosulfate was at archival levels (diffusion is a wonderful thing). You still need a water source, though, and a place to dump waste water/used chemicals.
 
Go hybrid?

Easy to carry enough water and chemistry to develop 35 or 120 in a daylight tank.

Household caddy for the cigarette lighter, a small scanner, and a laptop?

Easy to update your followers!



Come to think of it there are likely many here who have day dreamed of this in one form or another.
 
I bought a '95 Coachmen B-van last year with 26k miles on it for $5k. it needed a little TLC and some work, but it's got all all the comforts of a new $125k van. I travel in it quite a bit with my cameras and use it as a shooting base camp when I travel.

I could, in fact, develop film but water is always an issue in a small RV. When you're in a campground and have full hookups, you're fine... but when you're stealth camping you're very limited on the amount of fresh water available. You'd be much better to do your shooting, store the exposed film and batch process it at home.

Most of what I do when I'm traveling is digital, but I think I'm going to start shooting more film again this year.

BTW, I have had a number of travel trailers and motorhomes over the years, and I currently also have a 32' Class C on a Kodiak chassis. We use it for different purposes, but even though it's almost twice the length of the Class B-van, my comments apply to it as well. Fresh water remains at a premium, even though processing film would be easy enough, and you could probably even have space in it to install a full darkroom if you were willing to sacrifice the bedroom or living space.
 
BTW, there seem to be quite a number of Millenials who've decided to live off the grid, stealth camping in B-vans. There are a lot of them blogging their lifestyles now too.

I've traveled extensively for the past forty years, much of that with trailers and in motorhomes. When I was in my early 30s (in 1987) I lived in a 23' Airstream travel trailer for a year. It was a liberating experience... definitely a different lifestyle than living in a three bedroom ranch house in the 'burbs. You define "wealth" very differently when you live in a space like that, and you choose the material goods you live with much more carefully and for different reasons. it's kind of like full-time backpacking... you carry what you need, but not a pound more.

And you learn how to be frugal with resources... water being the most important. My B-van does carry water, but only about 12 gallons. Just as important as the fresh water are your waste tanks. You have to find appropriate places to dump them, and they can fill up quickly if you're not frugal with your fresh water use.

My point is that there are a LOT of considerations for trying to make a travelling darkroom/studio setup... and most of them have to do with a lack of working space, and fresh and waste water issues. But i'll tell you that there's no better or more comfortable way to travel and see the world!
 
Spouse: "Honey, what are you doing? Why is the van rocking back and forth? I'm coming in!"
Other Spouse: "No! I'm....developing film! Yeah, that's it, I'm developing film!"
 
Back
Top Bottom