6 Hours in A Darkroom

Yesterday, I spent all day on my Alma Mater's campus.

I was only slightly bugged, when I pulled into the visitor parking area, that they did not question - not even for a second - whether I was a student or a visitor. They just handed me my little slip of sticky paper with a large "V" on it to put in my windshield.  This paper meant that I was very much a visitor and too old to be there taking my general ed. classes.  Granted, it was 15 years ago that I graduated from BYU with my bachelors, but still....  Couldn't the parking lot security guy at least pretended he thought I might possibly be at least a graduating Senior finishing up her courses and trying to sneak into the visitor parking lot for free parking?

{Fat chance, ma'am.}

I loved being back on campus.  It was rejuvenating and refreshing and had such a spark of novelty that the daily grind usually doesn't offer.  I would love to go back to school.  But this time I would go back just for the sheer fun of learning.  Absorbing knowledge and information just for the excitement of it.  I don't think I fully appreciated the learning process when I was there all those years ago.   I'd love to retake World Civilization, Humanities, and American Heritage - classes that I just endured so I could get through my generals and closer to my major.  I would appreciate them so much more today.  Heavens, I'd even love doing the research papers, projects, and taking tests at the infamous testing center!

Yesterday, while a large "V" was stuck to my windshield, I headed to the Harold B. Lee library for a Discovery of Photography workshop.  The workshop was under the direction of the Curator of Photographic Archives at BYU and it was incredible.  We learned about "printing out" and "developing out" and spent most of the day in a darkroom.  We learned about how photos were developed in the early days of photography and experimented with developing our own Salt Prints and used Glass Negatives and photographic paper to develop more pictures.  It was a blast.  I even got to wear a lab coat, wear a special badge to get into the special collections area, and got silver nitrate on my hands (even while wearing gloves).  IT WAS AWESOME!

The first photo I developed was a Salt Print.  First I treated the paper with a salt solution and let it dry.  Then I treated it was a silver nitrate solution and let it dry.  Then, using an old negative from the archives and an antique glass developing box, I went outside and watched the paper react to the sunlight and develop this picture.  I then washed it in a solution to stop the processing and then washed it in water to clear out the chemicals that can cause yellowing with time.  I chose this picture to develop because I'm a mom and I love kids and, well, check out that little dog! 

The next two photos I developed were of my ancestors.  The couple on the right are my great, great grandparents.  On the left are 2 girls.  The girl on the right is my great grandma's youngest sister with her friend.  These were made with the glass negatives from the George Edward Anderson archival collection.  He took thousands of photos from the Utah Valley area and southward.  There are several glass negatives of my ancestral family members, so I was excited that the curator was willing to pull these negatives out of the "freezer" for me so that I could develop them. Using this method, we used photographic paper (that uses gelatin as the binder - this is the method used today for our photos), exposed the glass negative, then watched the picture appear by using chemical reactions in 6 different trays of solution.

I plan on framing all 3 pictures and using them in my home.

The day was topped off with a guided tour through the archives and special collections area. We saw first editions of Oliver Twist by Dickens and books that were hundreds of years old (side note - the oldest tablet writing they have is 4,000 years old).  We saw the personal writings and works of the prophets and other church leaders.  We saw Jimmy Stewart's personal reeled film collection, along with his personal papers and some possessions (his accordion) that he donated to BYU/the church when he died.  We went into the "freezer" where they store the 1.5 million photographic negatives that they have.  There was so much history - both religious based and secular.  It made my day.  It was such a unique and wonderful experience.

And it's only the start.

Anyone want to go and learn with me?