Is silver-halide printing over?

[Joe]

Artist Chuck Close still makes Daguerreotypes.

Vacuum tubes are still being manufactured for music amplification.

"Lost" is shot on 35mm film.


I'm more worried about honey bees.

 

[Revolucion Artistico]

I'm also 24 and have been making silver halide prints in my own darkroom for about 5 years now. Don't count the younger generations completely out yet.

 

[robertdfeinman]

I wasn't trying to advertise my items for sale which is why I didn't provide any details, but if anyone is really interested (and is close enough to pick the stuff up) just email me and I'll provide the info.

I know there are a few younger people on this site who are doing traditional processing which is why I was a bit surprised that I didn't get a single response to my ad. Perhaps the NYC area is just too "hip" to be interested...

 

[ibcrewin]

I'm surprised I haven't seen it on Craigslist. I'm always looking for cheap darkroom stuff!

I'll send you a PM!

 

[JoeV]

Hardly anyone under 30 has hobbies like in the past- watercolors, photography, etc. It is a digital age where images are not objects any longer. Artists continue to work in silver and will for a long time.

Hobbies are peculiar to a culture that has enough affluence to afford the spare time and creative mental energy. One can gauge the progress of a culture by its art and recreation. When people require the expenditure of the majority of their energy just to survive, hobbies, and the other higher arts, fall to the wayside. In our culture we have art professionals to do it for us, so we can spend more of our time working for the corporate masters, and consume the mindless drivel they create for us on TV.

Is silver-halide printing over?

I think it's a good sign when people start thinking that something is now 'dead'. How many 'photography is dead' threads have we seen recently? It's like being at a National Park when the bus of tourists finally packs up and leaves, and then the die-hards can begin to enjoy the real beauty without the distraction of the masses who're looking for the Next Big Thing to enjoy for five minutes, then move on.

I'm still printing on silver and even making albumen prints, which fell out of common use around 1900.

Good on you, David. Myself, we just completed a weekend gettaway, where we rode the Amtrak passenger train from Albuquerque to Winslow, Arizona, and stayed at the La Posada. I took my homemade 4" x 5" pinhole camera, Bogen tripod, 4 sheet film holders, and a changing bag loaded with precut and preflashed grade 2 paper negatives. In all I exposed about 20 images, some of the Petrified Forest. Had a blast. Results posted over at F295 in their B/W image forum. I couldn't have had as satisfying a weekend using more current image-making equipment.

I think it's the experience of hand-crafting an image that I enjoy most. The hand being the link between the eye and the heart.

~Joe

 

[usagisakana]

I would love to try traditional printing! in fact just today I found a really nice ilford enlarger sitting unused at my university... tomorrow I'm going to ask if I can take it, even if I have to pay for it. Nevermind I don't have a darkroom now... where there's a will there's a way!

 

[pesphoto]

I would love to try traditional printing! in fact just today I found a really nice ilford enlarger sitting unused at my university... tomorrow I'm going to ask if I can take it, even if I have to pay for it. Nevermind I don't have a darkroom now... where there's a will there's a way!

Get yourself a long folding table for that enlarger, some chemicals and trays, a small safelight, paper. Turn off the bedroom lights and start printing. Good luck getting the enlarger!

 

[Ororaro]

Darkroom and printing is so much more then just printing an image. It's an exercise, a form of extreme relaxation. It's so rewarding.

I love digital for commercial work but I hate digital as a hobby. Yuk! What a waste.

 

[drewbarb]

"Is silver-halide printing over?"

No.

 

[giovatony]

I wouldn`t invest too much money in anything connected with film technology these days.
Aside from a few thousand niche forum users and third world countries it`s nearly dead and getting more unprofitable by the day for the few remaining film processors left.
Those that think it`s going to sustain shelf space for years to come are in a state of denial.
There might always be some film and processing available but it`s surely going to be limited and fewer as time goes by. That`s the reality of it.
John

 

[pesphoto]

I wouldn`t invest too much money in anything connected with film technology these days.
Aside from a few thousand niche forum users and third world countries it`s nearly dead and getting more unprofitable by the day for the few remaining film processors left.
Those that think it`s going to sustain shelf space for years to come are in a state of denial.
There might always be some film and processing available but it`s surely going to be limited and fewer as time goes by. That`s the reality of it.
John

downer man.,..dont agree at all.

 

[jan normandale]

It's just a guess but the numbers of people with cameras is probably the greatest it's ever been. Backing that out to a number is difficult however I would be surprised if there was a substantial 'decline' in the real numbers of amateur darkrooms due to the large and active photography base.

What is happening is a decline in supplies for film based photography. Two of the well known an large photography stores in Toronto now have very small selections of film or chemicals. Interestingly I think this is a lagging indicator. I recently gave a friend a Yashica mat 124G. Then with gift giver's remorse I decided to replace it on Ebay. The price of that camera has jumped by at least 50 percent in a year. I was looking at a Mamiya 6RF body as a back up. KEH was selling bargain grade 6's for $600+/- a year ago, now they are $800+

Demand for film based cameras seems to be picking up. If that continues I think a whole new level of smaller specialty suppliers and retailers will come forward to service this segment again. I don't think the chains or large retailers will be part of this.

Summation: I think there's a temporary dip but this format isn't off the map nor extinct... yet.

 

[ibcrewin]

I don't think it's going anywhere. It may not have the same popularity as digital, and it might be harder to find supplies for it. But It's not going anywhere.. I'm just waiting for the day The craft store sells film and chemistry!

 

[usagisakana]

Get yourself a long folding table for that enlarger, some chemicals and trays, a small safelight, paper. Turn off the bedroom lights and start printing. Good luck getting the enlarger!

Picked up a Ilford Multigrade 500H enlarger, timer and control unit, Rowi Print drier, LPL easel mask, Agfa enlarging base and column, and two agfa enlarging lenses.. for free from uni. Am rather stoked. I'm going to try to get it all working, but I'm not sure everything is there (I'm not sure if the neg holders are in there).

I've got chemicals and trays.. now I just need some space, and the consumables. I hope I come across space sometime soon, but I'll keep the equipment until I do. Am very much looking forward to giving it a go.

 

[Pepe]

Phah

Out here in the Old World I can't find an enlarger to do medium format 6x9 or 5x4 large format without paying an arm and a leg (Of course I'm really, Really cheap so I mean below 150 usd ) !

 

[sepiareverb]

Quite a deal- those heads alone can go for quite a pretty penny.

 

[James Purchase]

Dead? I hope not

Dead? I hope not

I don't think that old analogue darkroom work is dead, at least I hope that it isn't. I just bought a used Leitz Focomat V35 enlarger and am in the process of turning my spare bedroom into a darkroom. I learned darkroom work in college and enjoyed it a lot. I worked as a darkroom assistant for a few years and enjoyed that too. Now that I'm retired, I have both the time and the money to go back into the dark.

James Purchase
Toronto

 

[shadowfox]

I missed this thread when it was started.

I agree with most that silver-halide printing is now forced into a small niche of artistic community (forced, but not necessarily bad in the long run).

But globally, I don't think that even this small niche is really that small. As long as it is large enough to sustain the manufacturing industry that makes the equipments and supplies, it will have the chance to stabilize and mature.

I'm also touched by one of the post above by a young forum member. Definitely don't write out the younger generations, there are some amazing young artists out there waiting to be discovered. If you no longer use your printing gears, find one of them and let them use it.

I started printing this year, it's fun, it's relaxing, it's addictive, and it's very rewarding.

it's even more fun when you throw digital into the mix. I'm currently experimenting with negatives printed using inkjet and printed via contact printing into "real" photographic papers.

So, to those who are thinking about trying your hands in darkroom-printing. Please, there may not be a time like this where some people will pay you to cart their enlargers out of their basements 🙂

 

[usagisakana]

Well all the gear I showed above is still sitting in that spot, however not for long (if all goes to plan). My dad and I are planning to build a darkoom/workshop in our backyard. He'd get half to do his woodwork, and I'd get a section to set up the enlarger and learn to do printing... I'm sure it's going to take a while to get there, but I keep nagging him about it so hopefully it won't be long. Can't wait to experience printing for myself 😀

 

[40oz]

was there ever a time when every Tom, Dick, and Harry printed in their own darkroom? Seems to me that not finding an overwhelming demand would speak to the niche character of the goods, not the wholesale abandonment of a medium.