Testing outside the darkroom
These images were made with objects gathered from my mom’s backyard. I first tested the process there at night using my own enlarger, then developed seven test strips in a mint-based developer made from mint growing in backyard.
The surrounding light fogged the paper and weakened the whites. I also could not tell whether the weak blacks came from the enlarger, the mint developer, or a combination of both. I later reprinted the images in OCAD University’s advanced black-and-white darkroom, where I could control the exposure and contrast more precisely.
What the tests taught me
Although the test strips are imperfect, I consider them the main prints from the project. They hold the conditions of the backyard experiment and show more of what I was trying to learn than the technically cleaner versions.
The project also changed how I think about access and photographic waste. At OCAD, used fixer passes through a silver-recovery system and the remaining chemistry is handled through an established disposal process. Working at home on a septic system made me realize that I could not treat chemical disposal in the same way. It left me with a greater appreciation for the facilities, knowledge, and support that make darkroom work possible.