Demand for public darkrooms?

[Ollie4080]

Hi there all! I'm a little new to this website/forum (about 10minutes new!) so I'm still learning it all.
The main reason I joined this forum is I am wondering if there are many public darkrooms about (UK) and if there is a general want/need/demand for them?
If there was one near you would you use it and what kind of services would you want from it?
Im posting this as I am a massssive film lover and really would like to find one near me.
Film will never die! =)

 

[rickabobaloey]

It's an interesting concept. I first used photography back in high school, and the art teacher had a dark room in her room.

Most likely if a place offers a public dark room, you're going to pay a hefty fee for it, not just for the chemicles, but for the enlarger as well. Can't really have 'average Joe' walking in and not really knowing how to operate the equipment.

 

[Flash Harry]

You'll be lucky to find one now, several pro labs used to run these and sometimes studio space for hire but a lot of local labs have gone bust since digital. Its relatively simple to set up your own, especially for black n white, darkroom equipment can be picked up for peanuts, a lot of hobbyists used to use their bathroom, I had a full colour DR set up in a spare bedroom till I moved house and went digital. H

JUST THOUGHT, try darkrooms in Bradford on google, I think there may be some there still

 

[Garbz]

I am willing to bed the demand is next to none. I know a lot of people who develop their own photos and then scan them in. Few who actually develop prints. For those who develop their own photos and scan (like myself) my darkroom is my cupboard. I need about 5min of dark to load the film onto the spool and that's it.

The one person I know who does have a "dark room" simply uses his bathroom, at night, tapes a dark black tarp over the door to prevent light leaking through the door cracks, and screws a red light in place of the existing CFL.

When the interested parties can make their own temporary dark rooms with little to no effort or cost, and the interested parties are so very few, I can guarantee that there'll be no demand for a public darkroom.

 

[Derrel]

There used to be a rather large operation here in the city that offered rental darkrooms, and offered trained print makers to help in the creation of all types of prints--B&W RC paper, B&W fiber-based, color C-print, and even beautiful Cibachrome prints. UNfortunately, the invention of wonderful inkjet printers like the better EPSON and HP and Canon models drove them out of business. That, and the transfer of most image capture to digital SLRs instead of film cameras.