APPENDIX D AN ALTERNATIVE PROCESS WORK SPACE Setting up an alternative working space is relatively simple and requires only small and inexpensive adjustments to your home, apartment, or classroom. With the exception of some of a few lab-dependent processes, such as wet collodion, nearly all alternative process work can be done in an environment that requires very little modification. Due to the relative light insensitivity of most alternative process sensitizers, a darkroom is unnecessary. I have conducted alternative process demonstrations in motel conference rooms, hotel lobbies, in front of a garage on the driveway, in an ice fishing tent, in a saloon, on back porches, offices, closets, kitchens, beaches, riverbanks, in the woods, on a boat, on a beach in Mexico, a courtyard in France, and in the back of a van in a parking lot in Oklahoma. Literally any place where I am out of direct UV light, or long-term fluorescent light, and have access to water, I will find a way to make it work. My lab at home is a separate addition to the studio. The space is broken up into wet and dry areas. The dry consists of an office with deep counters, workbenches, digital printers, light tables, and a library. This room has a full wall-size glass sliding door, windows, and track lighting for illumination. If you put the lighting on a dimmer switch you can control the illumination easily. I have a full size piece of orange felt to cover the wall-size sliding glass door to turn the space into a darkroom if needed. The inner part of the space is a wet lab with a 12 x 40 x 15 fiber-glassed marine plywood sink and two faucets with additional sprayers. The sink has PVC duckboard slats to keep trays off of the bottom of the sink. My ventilation is above sink level and if I were building the space again I would put the outflow vents at sink or floor level. In the first edition of this book I had an enlarger in the lab but those days are gone and now I make my negatives in large format cameras or enlarge them digitally and make digital versions using Pictorico Ultra Premium OHP film. When I need to
make a print from one of my elderly negatives I simply get it scanned at 4000 dpi at the local camera store, clean it up in Photoshop, and print it out on Pictorico inkjet film. There is a safelight in the wet lab but, more often than not, unless I m doing wet plate collodion, I simply keep the door open to the office area and work with the ambient light available. In fact I recently added a casement window to the darkroom and simply lower the blinds when working in the middle of the day. At night I keep the window open and get fresh air. You can be relatively comfortable working in any low light area. If you want to test it, simply coat a piece of paper with your process of choice and when it is dry, put a few small opaque objects (like quarters) on the sensitized surface and remove one of them every few minutes. Process the paper normally and if you can see any evidence of a the quarter s circular shape, check the notation for the time and that will tell you how long you can work under that illumination before your print will be affected by it using that particular sensitizer at that time of day. You will also need a clean and dry area to work on. This is essential moisture or chemical contamination will play havoc with your coating process. This recommendation seems obvious but it is important to pay heed to it because a dirty working environment will always punish your printing efforts. I recommend laying down fresh brown butcher s paper on your counters before working. The surface will always be clean and cleanup is simple. For washing and processing, all you need is a selection of appropriately sized trays and a sink with running water. For drying prints, I have always used a clothesline and clothespins. This eliminates any chance of chemical and residual contamination from prints that have gone before. If you are living in a rented apartment, a bathroom makes a fine lab because it generally has working plumbing and exhaust ventilation. The best part is the big washing tank called a bathtub. In my student days, I installed a large piece of plywood, with a plastic laminate, on the wall next to the bathtub and attached it with door hinges.
I cut a mail slot into the end of the board and attached the hinges to its long edge. The board was then attached to the wall so that it could be lifted up and locked against the wall s surface should anyone wish to use the tub for a bath. The board, for working sessions, could be released from the lock position and swung down so that it lay on top of the tub s rim. In that position it worked as a shelf and a direct deposit slot for the prints into the tub water for holding and washing. Ventilation is, of course, important. Any chemical mixing, or usage, should only take place where there is adequate inflow and outflow of air. Simply because a chemical lacks an offensive odor does not mean that it s safe to breathe. Be aware that an exhaust fan above your head is only drawing the chemical fumes into your face as they go to the exhaust. At The Art Institute of Boston we have installed our exhaust system in the sidewalls of the sinks. If you are going to install a fan specifically for a working space, try to place it lower than where your face will be. In the meantime, use common sense whenever you work with chemicals. This means that you check out the MSDS sheet on a chemical you are unfamiliar with and if that chemical is hazardous, you wear Nitrile gloves when working with it. If necessary, wear a dual filtered respirator and lab apron. If you are working with glyoxal or formalin, do so outdoors. Don t forget to dry recently glyoxal hardened papers outdoors as well as the paper off gasses for 24-48 hours. There are a few of the tools and materials that you will want to have in your alt pro working space. A well made contact printing frame A selection of Richeson synthetic brushes for coating A large ruler for ripping paper and a small one for measuring A digital gram scale A heavy duty shot glass Plastic eye-droppers Squeegee A roll of blue painter s tape Tape for labels and sealing bottles
A hairdryer An apron A set of very clean trays A thermometer Pencils, water-resistant pens, and a notebook A box of chemical or coffee filters An ample supply of distilled water An electric teakettle for boiling water A hand held blender wand for albumen A selection of measuring beakers that can measure 5 10 ml and up Beakers that can handle 1 2 liter capacity Graduated cylinder for small ml measurements A large sheet white Lucite for coating and wet print examination Clothesline and plastic spring loaded clothespins Amber 25 ml and 100 ml glass bottles with eyedropper caps for sensitizers Kimax blue top chemical storage bottles from 250 ml to 1000 ml A selection of clean dark brown plastic bottles for mixed chemicals A UV light source for winter and night Nitrile or latex gloves in one size fits all boxes A secure chemical storage area especially if children are present A selection of high quality paper to work on A digital printer like an Epson 3880 with K3 ink set Your negatives or Pictorico Ultra Premium OHP Inkjet Film Paper towels and glass cleaner Crystal Seal bags for negatives and prints A timer or time keeping device with a stopwatch A good sense of humor
Look around your space and discuss what you want to do in the way of a working space with those who live with you. Be careful with your chemistry. Don't set up a permanent lab, with active chemistry, in the kitchen. Label and date anything you mix and store it out of harm's way. Label all sized and prepared paper. If you have children or young guests in your working space, be sure to secure any and all chemistry especially soft-drink colored liquids like saturated potassium dichromate. Be very careful with your mixed silver nitrate it looks like water. Cover your working surfaces with paper that can be thrown away after your printing sessions. Put yellow curtains or orange felt up on windows to make a light safe environment. Hang hot chili lights for a festive atmosphere, clean up after yourself, and have a great time.