SILVER: Black-and-White Film Photography

SILVER takes us back to the roots of photography, and this special week in Santa Fe takes you on a journey through the fundamentals of analog silver-halide photography. Film-based black-and-white photography slows us down and reminds us to enjoy each stage of the process. Each frame of a roll of 36-exposure film is taken deliberately, then we process our film paying close attention to temperature, agitation, and time, and finally we savor the moment our print begins to emerge on the white photo paper floating in the chemicals of the darkroom. During this magical week with Sarah Meghan Lee as your guide, we practice the art of mindfulness, patience, and persistence and separate ourselves from the digital world for a week of creating intentional b/w fiber prints.

We explore each step of black-and-white image-making from learning how to use a film camera in manual mode, to processing the film, to learning how to produce high-quality prints in the darkroom. We focus on honing our technical skills and boosting our creative vision with daily artistic exercises, location photo sessions, and group image reviews. We visit a different location each day to photograph some of the iconic sites of Santa Fe and Northern New Mexico. 

The learning continues into the evening with lessons in darkroom printing and then time to print our new images with guidance from Sarah. Our exploration of analog photography is enhanced by short presentations on the history of photography as well as activities with cyanotypes, pinhole cameras, and photograms.

Join us in Santa Fe for a week exploring cameras, film, exposure, developing film, printing, and personal vision during this hands-on experience in a supportive environment.