SECRETS IN THE DARK

Project page:

https://htmlpreview.github.io/?https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zzhangnahzz/SECRETSINTHEDARK/master/index.html

Photo previews:

This project is for Collective Methods class in NYU Shanghai.

I invited my classmates in NYU Prague where I was spending my spring 2016 Semester into the dark room followed by turning off the light. Then, I introduced this project to them and asked them to share a secret with me and in return, I would share a secret of mine with them.

At the same time, I asked them to come up with an adjective that they think best describes this secret or how they personally feel about this project. I would turn the red light (printing photo purpose) back on once we had shared our secrets and they had an adjective in mind.

Under the dim red light, I asked them to write down their adjectives on a sheet of glass within a pre-measured and pre-marked area. I made sure they were aware that they could do anything with the blank area (draw, write, etc) as long as the adjective is visible. Once the word was written, I would place a piece of light-sensative matt photo paper under that area.

Once the paper was placed correctly, I asked participants to turn on the enlarger to project whatever they just wrote on the glass onto the light-sensaive paper. (The exposure time, 5 seconds, and contrast, level of 4, of the englarger has been adjsuted by me according to those test strips I have made before the participants come into the darkroom.) Then, I immersed the photo paper into photo paper developer for 60 to 90 seconds, followed by fix for 20 to 30 seconds, then stop for 5 to 10 minutes. Once the photo paper was in the tray of fix, the normal light could be turned on, and the participant may leave.

Then I put the photo paper into running water for 1 minute and then use a squeegee to drain the photo paper. The paper then needed to be hung up and waited till it dries up completely.