For some time before delving into my MA I had been doing a lot of thinking about which commercial environment I wanted to further my experience in and these past weeks have very much helped me develop a clearer vision of what I truly want to be doing. I have mostly been working on producing content for brands and small companies since returning to photography as my main focus. While I have enjoyed creating this work, as it's pushed me in the right direction and kept me shooting and learning new things, my work has always had more of a Documentary/Fine Art approach, rather than the glossy work that most commercial clients want. As I move forward with my research project, I feel that I am embracing the Documentary/ Fine Art side of my work more which feels so wonderful and yet a little intimidating. This has been a refreshing push that I have needed for some time and has made me eager to pursue this avenue further, though I know it may not be easy. Right now I am not exactly sure where this will lead me exactly, but I feel that I am heading in the right direction.
Another project that has been in the back of my mind for a while now is a community darkroom, that will allow the analog community to gather together and learn from each other. One of the reasons I started shooting digital, was the lack of analog resources I had when I moved back to the US. I tried to build darkrooms in each home I've lived in, but they were mostly in the bathrooms and was a long and somewhat expensive process that I did not have the funds for at the time. Now that I am finally in a place that I see myself being in for a while, I would like to start looking into what it would take to start up a community darkroom up, one very similar to The Portland Darkroom. I have reached out to one of the founders, Lauren Masterson, and we ended up having a wonderful phone call. She was more than happy to share her experiences and thoughts about the process of creating The Portland Darkroom, and I can see her being a great connection and resource for my future darkroom community.
After our conversation, I was very much inspired and felt my idea was positively reinforced. This excited me to get started on research, talk to other creatives in Boulder and Denver that have set up creative spaces as well, and start getting the bare bones of a business plan drafted up. I feel my network and community are already expanding and from them, I've already heard this similar desire which deepened my passion to do this. I also feel that at this point in my life I have the experience and understanding of how to apply my time and resources to this project to make it happen.
