Viewpoint
Without light we could take no images; yet, handled incorrectly, light can just as easily destroy photographs as well as create them
Over the past six weeks I have introduced many students to the photographic darkroom. Most are unfamiliar with the idea of working in total darkness to load film, and under safe lighting when printing (‘Is that the red light you see on films, sir?’).
At the other school, I am helping the art department reopen a darkroom that has not been used for several years, so have checked its blackout blinds for the tiniest holes, as the light they admit will degrade or destroy an unprocessed film’s precious store of images. Even if you refrigerate or freeze film, background radiation will cause base fog.
Digital photographers may think they are immune from the destructive qualities of light. However, watch an inkjet print fade in sunlight over time. And we have all seen proudly displayed prints of sunsets on walls or in print competitions whose highlights contain no detail. The brain will fill in missing details in shadow areas (which is why unsubtle use of HDR visually grates, as we expect shadows to be truly dark) but is simply distracted by blown highlights. Exposure errors affect tonal and hue range effortlessly.
Film can be deeply unforgiving. As with image- editing software, you can compensate for minor exposure errors on the negative, and dodge and burn (selectively print different areas of the image at a density other than that recorded) but rescuing that which is destined to fail because the exposure at the time of taking was wildly incorrect is a thankless, even impossible, task. Technology cannot save us from everything. Images can be ruined by light and our failure to handle it correctly. To admit just enough of it – that is the key.
Aspiring photographers have to learn to ‘read’ light; to appreciate and evaluate its qualities, and know how to measure, assess and use it. We transform the record shot into a photo that arrests the viewer if the lighting brings out some normally unseen quality in the subject.
American professional photographer and lecturer Abelardo Morell argues that film teaches you that light is both your enemy and your friend – an essential lesson for any photographer to learn. See Morrell’s current work at www.abelardomorell.net/project/ camera- obscura.