Obscura Darkroom - Who Are We?

Obscura Darkroom - Who are we?

Obscura Darkroom is a volunteer run community darkroom situated in the heart of Blackburn, Lancashire at The Bureau CentrefortheArts.

We primarily run on a booking basis, offering traditional darkroom facilities at a low cost to the community, from developing black and white or colour film, to hand-printing from negatives in a variety of formats. Our aim is to support young creativesandkeeptheknowledgeofthesetraditionalprocesses alive!

Covid, following by the cost of living increase, has put a strain on the darkroom community and challenged us to rethink our approach.

We’re pushing for an emphasis on building community and self sustainability, and this project will allow us to further establish, expandanddevelopourselvesasanorganisation.

Community work - Created at Obscura Darkroom

(By Jacob -Aged 14) (From an Open Day Workshop at the Bureau) (By Phoenix - aged 17) (By Faye) (By Matilde) (Ian at a Sunday Social Session) (Jack,Aaron &Alfie looking at Negatives)

Community work - Created at Obscura Darkroom

(By Shaun) (By Simon from theThrive Canal sessions) (Participants process of printmaking) (From a BureauThrive open weekend event) (Aedan previewing his work in the darkroom) (Orrin delivering a workshop at the Fun Palace event)

Magazine Covers - ObscuraZine

In early July 2020, inspired by the #VOGUEChallenge covers we decided a good way to reach audiences we’d never had before while we couldn’t open, would be to do our own special edition “magazine covers” - our twist being that the images had to be shot on film by our patrons. Our first covers were based on the theme of Lockdown - we reached out to our user base for images which were then turned into “magazine covers” using our logo as the masthead, and shared across our facebook page and instagram. It was so well received we ran with the idea - next following the theme of ‘Hidden Treasures’. This time we threw the net wider and were lucky enough to have photographers from all over the world submit their work!

For this issue, we expanded on the idea, taking article submissions alongside the cover series, creating a digital magazine which can be found here.

Group Workshops

We’ve run a number of different workshops & courses that teach introductory darkroom techniques. On each occasion, these workshops havereceivedstronglypositivefeedback!

During this project we would hold these on a regular basis as a means to develop the skills of ourcommunityasitexpands.

WorkshopFeedbackQuotes:

“Thanks for a really in-depth and informative session, gave me the confidence to come back in the darkroom and not cutanycorners!!”

“Thanksforbeingsofriendlyandwelcoming:)”

“Enjoyed the session. Orrin, was knowledgeable in all aspects of the course. Giving detailed explanations throughoutandnottootechnicalforme.”

Photography OnThe Canal

ObscuraxSuperSmallWaysxThrive

In May 2022 Obscura Darkroom received funding from Thrive and Super Slow Way (£2,000) to run a series of free workshops and courses introducing people to the world of analogue photography. These were aimed at beginners, and in the case of theThrive sessions, as a part of the Social Prescribing scheme.

Orrin & Calum led on the management and delivery process of this project, which culminated in a group exhibition at the Bureau Centre of theArts during the Festival of Making weekend.

This project highlighted to us the importance of developing a diverse creative community, and uniqueness of the activities we can deliver.

Orrin&Calum attheSSW projectexhibitionopening

Orrin Saint. Pierre

Orrin a young artist & photographer from Blackburn Lancashire, currently studying in Manchester. His personal practice centres around documentary portraiture - with an interested in creating long term socially engaged documentary projects around certain groups or individuals.

Orrin is the longest running of the core team members at Obscura, which was responsible for introducing him to photography back in 2015. In May 2022 he led the delivery of Obscura Darkrooms ‘Photography on the Canal’Super Small Ways project grant

Orrin primarily works with analogue equipment, which both helps him to engage with his subjects and create the aesthetic present throughout his work. He also recently exhibited his work in the Rotterdam Photo 2023 Festival during RotterdamArt Week.

Calum Daniel Heywood

Calum is an internationally published and Nationally exhibited multimedia Artist, Photographer and Filmmaker operating within Manchester & Blackburn. Calum studied a BA in Photography through Myerscough College & the University of Central Lancashire and an MA in film photography & Animation through Manchester Metropolitan University.

Calum Joined the Obscura Darkroom in early 2020 and was invited to come onboard as a director in early 2021. He co-managed and delivered the Obscura Darkrooms ‘Photography on the Canal’ Super Small Ways project grant Calums’ approach varies based on the project. The newest work around the coastline is a meditation through art exploring childhood memories and feeling centred in the Welsh coastline. Via analog photography, painting, video, sound and writing.This work is set to be exhibited at Prism contemporary later in 2023

Scott David Jackson

Scott is a self-taught photographer & cinematographer utilising both digital & analogue film mediums since 2010. Specialising in portraiture and particularly self portraiture, he recently fell in love with instant film and enjoys hand-printing in the darkroom. He officially joined the darkroom team in early 2019 and leads on our social media.

Emma Louise Spencer

Emma is the newest member of our team. Her passions resonate within the outdoors focusing her photography around landscapes and wildlife. Emma started her photography career through her education, studying photography at Myerscough College and then furthered her education at Uclan in Preston. During this time, Emma assisted in the production of billboard images which advertised the new engineering building at Uclan, assisted in the production of headshots for Penguin books, and flew to Azores to photograph marine life for a children’s book! Emma has also been published in Lancashire life magazine, photography for beginners and the national student magazine.