Being referred to as a "fingerprint of the photographic process", this video essay produced by Daylight Multimedia displays images of John Cyr's work, which are a series of stills of famous photographer's developing trays. Each tray has it's own unique look, and seem to provide a thoughtful display that makes one think about the iconic images possibly produced in them.
From John Cyr's site:
"From the mid nineteenth century until today, silver gelatin printing has been one of the most utilized photographic processes. From classic reportage to fine art photography, the majority of it was performed in a black and white darkroom until the mid-1970's. As recently as 2000, black and white darkrooms still served as the location for introduction to photography courses. The digital advances in photography over the past ten years have been remarkable."
[via johncyrphotography.com and gizmodo.com]
Very cool, I spent nearly a decade working in a professional darkroom, that long skinny tray reminded me of the ones I used to process large exhibition prints by hand rolling them in the trays.
Very neat documentary on the trays. I still have mine and can put my hands on it within 2 minutes of arriving in the house but haven't (sadly) used in 25 + years.
Should break it out again and get printing.
Thanks for this.