Yet again I have been told that film is dead and the darkroom will be going away soon. I wonder how many of my colleagues get this cheery message several times a year.
When photography came about in the 1800s, artists in other 2D media immediately thought it was going to replace them. It did not. Photography has merely been an additional creative medium. Mechanical (the scary camera) 2D creation did not replace painting, drawing, or printmaking. And why should it? They are all media in which the hand and mind work to create something unique and expressive.
And as I watched my students print images on the 3D printer I thought "Why don't we talk about these machines replacing sculptors?" Sculpture departments in some colleges are obtaining machines that can create a large 3D piece of art that a student creates in a CAD program. While we are at it, why aren't we talking about cutting drawing classes and replacing them with CAD classes using the computer and the drawing tablet? And since printing methods have gotten so sophisticated, why are we not having the discussion about the end of painting and using Illustrator and other programs and creating the paintings on the computer, simulating the brushstrokes, and printing on canvas?
Because all of that can indeed be done. We can create our own paintbrushes in photoshop. We can print on canvas, primed or raw. We can use a stylus on a tablet just as a pen or pencil on paper or board. We can start with a block of some substance and program the robotic machine to carve and sculpt that block in far less time and with far less mess.
But we are not having these conversations because they are ridiculous. All those media are treasured and kept because of the presence of the artist's hand in the creation of the work. And that is what defines the difference between digital and analogue photography. I am tired of smiling nicely when someone tells me in their serious voice that someone they know who knows said darkrooms are going away. That is news to me. Because while some liberal arts schools have gotten rid of the darkroom (and put the money towards non-art areas, do you get the point here?), fine arts schools are rehabbing their darkrooms and strengthening their traditional process offerings. And the fact is that those who have a foundation in film are better prepared to work in digital. As an artist who is always looking for calls for art, the calls for traditional and alternative processes have not died down in the least.
In 2006, I was called in to the then principal's office. I was told - not asked - to be prepared to teach photography the following year. It was down to one period. I was under the impression the current teacher was retiring. He wasn't and I was used as a part of an attempt to force him into retirement. The people who played a part in that came out unscathed, reputations intact. Me? I gained a reputation as a teacher who steals programs. But, I take my job seriously and worked hard to make this a successful program. Three sections my first year, five sections and a second level my second year, and eight sections, three levels, and an additional person with a full time photo teaching job. I have more former students working in the field than anyone knows. Yet I come into this building each and every year knowing that someone is going to remind me and my program are obsolete, our days are numbered. The lessons I teach are much more than how to take a pretty picture. The film method involves patience, chemistry, careful thought, and a whole host of intangibles that benefit the whole student, not just the artist within, These are skills my former students have told me they take with them in their jobs or college.
I know someone wants my room. Is it for the new weight room? It might be. I saw someone scoping out the hall last week. But once you get rid of this, you cannot get it back. I hope to survive once they let me go. But I am of no concern. My question is what with the loss do to the students? I am not sure anyone cares to ask that question.
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