New community darkroom coming into focus on P.E.I.

Inside the basement of Charlottetown's Arts Guild, a group of Islanders is trying to block the outside world.

They're sealing every gap and shoring up the door, stopping any natural light from entering — all to create a community space for processing film photography in Prince Edward Island.

"The room was in rough shape when we found it," said Owen Stanley, founding member of Charlottetown Darkroom, the non-profit group behind the project. "Right now it's … almost usable.

"We need light-sealing because entering and exiting the darkroom while it's in use is not light-tight yet."

The Charlottetown Darkroom was established last year by a group of P.E.I. photographers, responding to a lack of accessible darkroom facilities on the Island. When the Arts Guild on Queen Street offered up its basement, members set about renovating the space.

For Stanley and his fellow photographers, the effort has been worth it to preserve a classic art form.

"It's been a long time that we haven't had a space to develop or print our film," Stanley told CBC P.E.I.'s Main Street. "In this day and age, we have so much technology that really brings us away from this original medium of photography.... [The darkroom] is really a way that we can get back into a creative, hands-on experience."

While the arrival of digital photography largely wiped out the need for chemical baths and light-sensitive development, analog mediums are experiencing a major cultural comeback — much like vinyl records and vintage typewriters.

"There's a renaissance happening, I would say across Canada," said Vanessa Tignanelli, another founding member of Charlottetown Darkroom. "There are darkrooms that are doing very similar things that we are … in Moncton and in Newfoundland."

Tignanelli, a filmmaker and photojournalist, fell in love with the artform while studying fine art at the University of Guelph.

Though her day-to-day work is entirely digital, she misses the tactile nature of film.

"Everything is digital," she said. "This opportunity to be able to get back into a darkroom and be able to play with film … away from the screen, is really exciting to me."

Once open, Charlottetown Darkroom plans to host workshops for photographers of all skill levels.

"It's for everybody," Tignanelli said. "You don't have to have any previous experience with it."

She said the group has secured funding for workshops but not for renovations.

"Capital funding is really hard to come by," she said. "Those renovations that we need to do, there's no grants for that."

The group is currently looking to raise $7,500 to help cover its costs.

But the group isn't just looking for cash. Tignanelli said it is asking Islanders to donate any specialized equipment currently gathering dust.

"If someone has a darkroom revolving door hidden in a barn somewhere, please let us know," Tignanelli laughed.