While researching more on sustainable film alternatives I came across The Sustainable Darkroom. A global initiative that is tackling environmental issues within analogue photography.
Firstly, it’s awesome to see that there are organisations working towards more sustainable analogue film practices. Founded in 2019 by Hannah Fletcher, an artist and researcher working with camera less photography the sustainable film lab has worked to improve the sustainability of photographic film through many different mediums for a few years now. The project is now run by Hannah as well as Alice Cazenave and Edd Carr. It’s also great that the projects research base is in the UK! Lead by Edd Carr, the Northern Sustainable Darkroom is based in Leeds and is the research facility for the project.
From their website:
Hannah Fletcher, currently operating nomadically. Is doer, a dot connector, but also a nurturer, a listener, a plant lover, forager, dust bin diver, slow eater and a fresh air dreamer. Having grown the project from under the wings of London Alternative Photography Collective CIC, she has been overjoyed by the increasing demand and enthusiasm for this knowledge and research across the globe.
Alice Cazenave is a doctoral researcher and photographic artist operating in London, UK. Alice is motivated by learning from and with people, and the sense of connection this gives to others and the wider world we inhabit.
Edd Carr operating in Leeds, UK. Loves dogs, he operates a physical darkroom space in Leeds; Northern Sustainable Darkroom. Edd is motivated by the establishing of alternative networks that exist outside the mainstream, offering platforms for artists to engage with sustainable practices on a material and conceptual level. His own work uses moving image to explore trauma in relation to the ecological crisis.
The project is working holistically to make film photography more sustainable so that means coming up with new ideas to make more sustainable film reels or make the film development process more sustainable. Some examples of things that they are working on are firstly, growing plants and herbs which produce natural chemicals that can be used to develop film or they are also doing research into vegan alternatives to gelatin that can be used in film production.
The organisation defines being sustainable as
"To contribute to a world fit for future generations to inhabit. This encompasses sustainable relations between humans, as well as non-humans, within an ecosystem that entangles in social, political and economic dimensions."
They see 5 main path ways to achieving a sustainable future. Firstly accessibility, part of this goal is contributing to educating people on how to take their film photography practice into their own hands. Therefore they share all of their research and tips how how to make shooting film more sustainable.Inclusivity - again looking to get as many people involved as possible and encouraging people from a range of backgrounds to get involved. Transparency and honesty, something that is key to any sustainable mission with all the greenwashing going on in current times.Good practice - recognising that we as humans have a big part to play in the process and recognising that being sustainable means racial, social and sonic justice too. And finally, Sharing their Ethos and supporting other groups that get involved in the common goal to transform the approach to photographic materials and their historically toxic nature, prioritising ecological balance.
One cool thing about the sustainable darkroom when you visit their website is that it is 100% run by solar panels, they use simple text, design and images to keep power usage to a minimum. They duo warn though that on a cloudy day you might not have access. I think this is such a great idea and recognises the carbon footprint the Internet has - this is a cool solution to solve that.
Reading through the website and Alice's research I learned a lot more on sustainability as a social issue as well. Her research discusses the mining of silver and the historical significance of settlers removing colonials from their lands to mine or destroying/moving tones of earth to acquire the precious metal. She uses the term 'slow violence' (Nixon, 2011) to describe this, Rob Nixon describes slow violence as: ‘a violence that occurs gradually and out of sight, a violence of delayed destruction that is dispersed across time and space, an attritional violence that is typically not viewed as violence at all’. Alice considers this in relation to media industries.With her research she looks forward to a society where researchers and practitioners can work more ethically and from her own research tries to think of new experimental ways in which we can fix problems with the sourcing of silver.
The collective relies on grants and donations mainly to survive and continue their research. This organisation is one that I would love to get more involved in in the future, it would be great to visit the film lab and garden in Leeds and learn more about their different processes. One idea I had for final year was related to this topic, I wonder if I could work with the lab and indie developers for a final year project.
They also have three publications: "This is not a solution", "This is (still) not a solution" and "Re source" these books attempt to share some of the organisations experiments with shooting film and developing it with new sustainable practices and chemicals. Buying these books also helps support the cause.
An excerpt from the most recent book Re source
These books do come at a cost so my next step will be to read Edd Carrs two papers on the subject matter, firstly "The Ecology of Grain: An Ecological Analysis of Gelatin in Photographic Film" and the follow up paper "Stare into the Caffenol to Reveal Your Future: A Sustainable Vision for Analogue Photography".
I'm really encouraged by all the work I have seen the project doing as at the the beginning of the project I had no idea people were working on a sustainable film future. I'm excited to follow their journey and see what happens next.
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