Analogue Wonderlab
THIS UK FILM supplier has been expanding into film development in addition to retail. In doing so, director Paul McKay sought the services of Marina Llopis, who has wide experience of working in photo labs globally. ‘This always made sense on paper but was a big commitment to add to our business. As I have never worked in a lab, we needed someone with the same values.
‘Sustainability is one of the lab’s three priorities. For example, our packaging and flyers are made from recycled cardboard as well as being recyclable, and now with the lab it is possible to make an even greater impact. On the retail side, we are reliant on what comes out and what people buy, but with the lab we have much more opportunity to make a difference in every part of the process. We acknowledge that there are still elements which we can’t say are sustainable, at least not yet.
‘We are trying to minimise our footprint by starting with the best practices. A long-term goal is how to have a developer, stop and fix with the lowest toxicity possible. If you have two developers and one is less environmentally harmful in a measurable way, moving to that one does help. That is at least step one and it’s better for everyone to make a small move than for a small number to make a dramatic change. For example, we use Kodak Xtol which is an ascorbic-acid-based black & white developer, and is lower impact than others. We work with a company which takes away chemicals for silver recovery, though we want to bring it in house. Ed Carr, who is part of the Northern Sustainable Darkroom, has been researching small-scale silver recovery through electrolysis. We have also been working with Hannah Fletcher and the Sustainable Darkroom on how we can push this further. She is working on the more academic side of research but when we get to the point where it could be commercially viable, we will go further.’
I was interested to hear of the
collaboration with Hannah Fletcher (who is also interviewed for this article, see following page), which reflects the sense of community often found in analogue photography. What changes and initiatives has Paul seen from the film companies?
‘We have a good relationship with the producers and are talking to them about how it can be made a more circular process and we reuse things like canisters and spools.
‘A lot of these problems are too big for one lab or one person to solve, so we are going to need to work together. The bigger companies always take longer to change direction, which is true in any industry, so it’s the smaller businesses making a difference first. Washi Film is a very good example, using as much recycled materials as possible. Some of these changes I expect will translate upwards in the future, such as Street Candy using cardboard film canisters. There is also a movement away from disposable cameras to simple plastic point-and-shoots. Harman sells a lot of disposables, but has brought out two new simple cameras, which are still plastic, but are not disposed of after one use.’
The lab has been open since last October and the response within the film community has been very positive, keeping Marina and her team busy. ‘People have really engaged with us,’ Paul mentioned. ‘We obviously can’t say that we are 100% environmentally friendly or sustainable at the moment, but we are trying to do our best at every possible step, while investing in the future. People understand the commitment and choices we are making.’