The Handmade Darkroom: Te Whanganui-a-Tara Sustainable Photography Collective

space

In February of 2023 Belinda Whitta and Samson Dell brought the handmade darkroom out of their notebooks, and into reality!

Our first public facing events were a series of four workshops within the exhibition Susurrations, a Women in Photography NZ + AU in-person event. We invited local Te Whanganui-a-Tara artists to learn how to develop film with caffenol, create lumen prints and cyanotypes, and eco-toning for cyanotype!

At the 2023 Newtown Festival, Samson and I printed the individual frames for a moving image piece, that both showed sustainable and alternative processes within the imagery, and the printing process.

In September of 2023, we launched a Patreon, that offers our community an opportunity to support us, and in return receive monthly content. This is designed to expand your photographic practice with more sustainable and alternative processes. This begins at just $20NZD + sales tax, per month. You can visit our Patreon dashboard here.

Alongside Virginia Woods-Jack, curator and founder of Women in Photography NZ + AU, we have created monthly meet-ups in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington. These meet-ups are intended to form a community of sharing and supporting!