Patience and the Fundamentals of Photography – Potomac's Return to the Darkroom
by Rita Deurdulian
A few years have passed since Potomac’s photography darkroom has seen the safelight. COVID safety concerns prompted photography teacher Lise Metzger to close access to the darkroom, which led to a curricular shift that focused on digital photography. Once Ms. Metzger assessed the safety of returning students to a small, enclosed space, she decided to reopen the Upper School darkroom for the 2022-23 academic year, adding airflow machines for added measure.
Currently, the Upper School photography curriculum consists of four classes that progress through the concentration. Taught by Ms. Metzger, courses are part art, part tech, part chemistry, and part patience. The curriculum takes students from a beginning course in digital photography that teaches the basics of picture making, how to read pictures, and how to speak about others’ work. Using 35mm single-lens reflex cameras, students learn the technical and expressive characteristics of the medium. Through in-class practice and weekly assignments, students investigate the importance of the frame, depth of field, movement, composition, and light. Subject matter is often up to the individual student, but includes outdoor and indoor landscapes, portraits and self-portraits, and still-life. Each semester ends with an in-depth body of work on a subject of the students’ choosing.
After students begin with a computer-based digital class, they progress in Photo 2 to learn how to maneuver in an analog world and engage in the chemical processes needed to develop film. They learn to operate at a slower, more precise, and cautious pace.
Proper film processing and darkroom printing are the centerpiece of the black-and-white darkroom curriculum. Then, various open-ended photo assignments build on the picture-making skills they learned in their foundational studies.The Upper School photo curriculum takes students from a beginning course in digital photography that teaches the basics of picture making, how to read pictures, and how to speak about others’ work. Through weekly assignments, students investigate the importance of the frame, depth of field, movement, composition, and light. Subject matter is often up to the individual student, but includes outdoor and indoor landscapes, portraits and self-portraits, and still-life. Each semester includes an in-depth body of work on a subject of the students’ choosing.
“I thought it was marvelous watching my image emerge in the chemicals. Although my picture was nice, Ms. Metzger taught me that making small changes with the light and time – or applying techniques like burning – would improve my prints and make them stronger.”
Abigail Gray '23
Proper film processing and darkroom printing are the centerpiece of the black-and-white darkroom curriculum. Then, various open-ended photo assignments build on the picture-making skills they learned in their foundational studies.
“I found that when we had to pivot the class to digital during Covid, learning this medium digitally helped my students understand the basics of photography more immediately. I believe it has actually made them better photographers. In digital, students can take hundreds of photos and see immediately what they have made. When they make that switch to manual, they need to slow down and previsualize what their final image will look like. They need to take their time. Emphasis is always on developing a more perceptive eye and articulating visually what it is that they want to say,” notes Metzger.
When shooting with film, there are multiple hands-on steps required to get to a final product. Once a roll of film has been shot, students have to roll the film on a metal reel and place it in a special canister in a completely dark closet. They then process the film at a large stainless steel sink using a number of different chemicals, wash the film, and hang it to dry. Rolling and processing film usually takes an entire class period. Once the film is dry, students cut and sleeve the strips of negatives. During a subsequent class period, they take the negatives into the darkroom and make contact sheets, so they can finally see what they had photographed. They then make enlarged prints of selected images. Students usually make multiple prints of an image before they arrive at a satisfactory interpretation of their negative.
Advanced photography student Abigail Gray ’23 shares that by working in the darkroom, she has developed more patience and attention to detail than she would have just working with digital. She reminisced how the first print she created took her hours. She reflects, “I thought it was marvelous watching my image emerge in the chemicals. Although my picture was nice, Ms. Metzger taught me that making small changes with the light and time – or applying techniques like burning – would improve my prints and make them stronger.”
Abigail mentions that she appreciates her time in the darkroom because it helps her feel more connected to the craft. She recalls, “Every slight change in my environment with the time, the contrast, and the exposure, has the ability to drastically improve or ruin my image and the vibe I'm trying to convey. Overall the darkroom drastically improved by photography ability and my attention to the smallest details.”
Arts Program. Visual/Performing Arts Concentration
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