COLOUR DARKROOM
I have moved away from machine-based processing for large-scale works and built a hand-operated chromogenic darkroom within my studio. The space is constructed from simple materials and can be opened and closed as needed, functioning as an operative metabolism within the studio.
All large-scale works are developed manually. Photographic paper is exposed horizontally and processed in open troughs using PVC rollers, moving through developer, bleach and fixer without mechanical stabilisation. Temperature, timing and chemical activity are not standardised but remain variable, dependent on the conditions of the space and the movement of my body.
This method shifts the image away from industrial reproducibility. Each print emerges from a sequence of physical decisions in which material, chemistry and environment act together. Traces of this process remain visible in the final work as structural elements of the image. I do not approach these deviations through the language of imperfection, but as inherent qualities that arise outside immediate control – conditions under which the work participates in its own formation.
Alongside this system, a small mechanical processor is maintained for more intimate formats such as books. The coexistence of both allows for movement between different scales and registers within the photographic medium.