As an architectural photographer, I generally don’t have a need for a shooting studio. I’ve been pursuing personal projects for the last five years, though, that were poorly served by my transient basement studio.  Since much of that personal work is shot on film, I’ve also been meaning to build a darkroom for quite some time. Having focused heavily on my commercial career for the last 20 years, I knew it was time to get back to my roots and to once again devote time and resources to making images that were just for me.

Having become familiar with the building at 1821 West Hubbard, I thought it would be the perfect location to house the new studio.  There are a few other photographers there, Filter Photo Festival is also based there, as well as Latitude, Spudnik Press, and other artists’ collectives.  I got in touch with building management, and we started thinking about a suitable space.  

It was fully a year later when I moved into a 1,500 square foot space.  I contacted long-time client and friend, Brad Lynch, to see if he was interested in helping me layout the design.  Brad’s team came up with some very cool and thoughtful ideas, most of which I sadly couldn’t afford. The realization of the buildout costs caused me to rethink my approach, and I settled on doing almost all of the work myself.

Work began by having the building’s in-house contractors demo the existing plywood panel floor, followed by pouring a new concrete floor. Next, I started moving in the darkroom equipment that I’d been accumulating over the previous two years. Furniture was ordered as well as new lighting, carpet tiles, and the set up of high priority items: coffee maker and a Sonos system.

With proper caffeination and background music, I set about repairing holes in the walls and scores of dents inflicted by the previous tenant’s⁠—apparently rowdy⁠—ping pong tournaments.  Next was paint: white for the walls and black for everything hanging from the ceiling. Big shout out here to my intern, Qingyan Zhu, for helping paint conduits and pipes from our rolling scaffolding. Furniture began to arrive and the space was starting to feel homey.

With the foundation laid, I hired assistant Tyler Lundberg to come over and help frame out the darkroom.  Then I began hanging drywall, which went really quickly, then taping and mudding (which did not go quickly at all!).  Once that was finally done and painted, the electricians got everything wired and I ordered cabinets for the kitchen and darkroom from IKEA.

I wanted my 18-foot long desk to be at standing height and ended up custom building the under cabinets for that myself, deciding at the last minute to make the box for the flat file into a rolling cabinet which was covered with a cutting mat.  With that complete, countertops were ordered, white Corian for the desk and kitchenette and a grey laminate for the darkroom.

All in all, I’m very pleased with how everything has come together.  Everyone who visits the space remarks on how cozy it is. Not surprisingly, I think my favorite elements are in the darkroom: a repurposed adjustable height desk as an enlarger base, wall-mounted Durst L1200 enlarger, LED lighting that is both a white light and safe light, ten-foot stainless steel sink, digital water mixing valve and filtration system, custom ABS vent hood for keeping the air safe and a goofy little cigar humidifier for properly humidifying alternative process paper.

Reflecting on the process and the results, I can’t believe I went so long without a studio of my own.  While it’s no small expense, there’s something about my sanctuary that lends legitimacy to my life as an artist.

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