Saturday, April 13, 2013

Wet photography


A couple of days ago I visited my old place of employment, Willetton Senior High School.   It is still a great school, the largest government school in this state.   I was there to use the Industrial Arts workshop to do a bit of welding for my friend Dennis.  Whilst there the IA coordinator offered me a couple of boxes of photographic supplies, which when purchased, must have cost a pretty penny.  Schools long ago stopped teaching ‘wet’ photography and now exclusively teach digital photography which is the far better way to go. I recall doing weddings and sweating on the results at the processing lab.  The digital camera can instantly show you if the shot just taken is OK and before printing, Photoshop can perform miracles even if the photographer has made a few mistakes.   The one nice thing about wet processing of photographs was the magical emergence of an image before your eyes in the developing tray.

After a bit of research I found that there is a photography course at a local technical college which still has students experience ‘wet’ photography.  The bulk film and paper has been kept in an airconditioned room and should still be OK.  Next week I will contact that college to see if they can use this stuff, otherwise advertise it for free in a local trading paper.

No comments: