Tori Fyfe and Jet Smith are building a community darkroom
A milestone for Chattanooga’s film photography community is approaching on Friday, February 22 with the grand opening of Safelight District. The community darkroom and gallery will be open for use by the public, will host a variety of workshops, and will also be home to a film-developing service.
The darkroom is the realization of a lifelong dream by two local photographers, Tori Fyfe and Jet Smith.
Tori has been involved in the arts since she was a child. She jokes, “I sweat fixer,” but she really does spend a lot of time in the darkroom.
She and Jet Smith met during a photography class at Chattanooga State, where they both fell in love with the process of developing film. Jet approaches photography from a fine art standpoint, setting out to make art objects using the process.
Wanting to continue the craft after their classes were over, they built a darkroom in Tori’s basement at home. When a space became available on Main Street, the pair decided to expand their operation and build a professional darkroom.
They have been working on Safelight District since September of 2017, all the while working full-time jobs and funding it themselves.
“When you first open a business, your vision always takes longer to become a reality than you think, [and] there is always more work than you anticipate,” Jet says. “We would think that we had to do just one thing, then we would discover ten more things we had to do.”
The studio includes a gallery area, office, darkroom, and several workspaces for artists. The office is dedicated to digital film processing, with a negative scanner and computer. A light-proof revolving door opens into the darkroom, where they have four enlargers of different types, a large sink for processing, a film drying cabinet, print drying rack, and all of the necessary darkroom tools ready to use.
A darkroom is more than just an enclosed space that is absent of light. A roll of film is extremely light sensitive, and developing it must be done in complete darkness—otherwise images are foggy or blank. Even a pinhole of sunlight or the red safelight that is used during printing produces enough light to ruin a photo.
Without the use of their eyes, the photographer cuts the film and places it into a light-tight tank with a developing chemical. There are different times for different types of film and for different chemicals. Then the film goes into the negative drying cabinet. When it is dry, it can be cut into strips with five to six negatives per strip and stored in sleeves.
“The key is to get the negatives correctly,” Tori explains. “You can experiment—the possibilities are endless when it comes to printing—as long as you develop the negatives correctly.”
The photos are printed on a variety of paper that is light sensitive, so any light that touches it produces a dark tone (except for the light of a safelight). The negative acts as a “light stencil”, allowing only certain areas to become dark. Depending upon focus, aperture, exposure time, and other factors, a single negative can produce many different photos. The photographer exposes the picture, puts it into three chemicals—developer, stop, fix—then rinses and hangs it to dry.
Darkroom clients are provided with everything they need except for chemicals and paper.
“People have different preferences when it comes to photographic chemicals,” Tori says. “When we have workshops, all of the chemicals and paper will be provided and included in the cost. People can go online and book a time and date to use the darkroom, and the door opens with a code for 24-hour access. Members can book single sessions, or purchase monthly, three-month, six-month, or yearly memberships.”
Safelight District is also offering the only service in town that develops film—this was previously only available online, and most companies don’t send back the negatives.
“If you want your film printed properly, and you want your negatives back, this will be a great resource,” notes Jet. “It’s definitely a niche, but it is really needed.”
Safelight District’s first round of workshops will be taught by William Johnson, Doug Barnett, and Mike Wan. Register online at safelightdistrict.com or catch their grand opening on Friday, February 22nd at 1804 E. Main St.