The Analogue Laboratory - Making Better Magic

Two fresh out of University students - Alex and Aurelia - started up Adelaide's only community darkroom in 2012. After graduating we found we had nowhere to practice the skills we'd spent years learning and decided to get proactive about the conundrum. We raised all the funds to build the darkroom with a whirlwind crowdfunding campaign, some key components were donated by local businesses and lots of friends lent us their tools and their muscles. Alex had been hoarding enlargers and associated equipment for many years - the pieces we were missing seemed to materialise from the aether as word of mouth about our project spread.

We run the darkroom as volunteers on a not-for-profit model. To pay the rent we run workshops once a month, sometimes inviting local artists to share their skills. We have open hire days every month for anyone in the community to come and use the facilities at a student-friendly prices. Occasionally we work on special events and workshops for groups such as ArtLab, Moving Music, The Cocktail Exchange and even a highschool! We do it all for the love of photography, and the very necessary luxury of having a facility that allows us to continue with wet process and alternative photography outside a university context.

Funded by Adelaide (March 2015)