Aaron Siskind was a photographer who wore many hats. Starting his career as an English teacher in 1926, he joined the Photographic League in 1932. During the 30's, he did a number of photojournalistic essays. But by 1944, he had begun doing more abstract work.
For those who don't know him, here is his Wikipedia page:
Aaron SiskindHis darkroom seems very functional, though very spread out. The aesthetics side of this room is very secondary to its function.
As usual, I know the book it still copyrighted, though probably largely out of print. So if anybody doesn't feel OK with the content, just PM me and I'll remove the text and images...
Aaron Siskind lives on a quiet residential street in Providence, Rhode Island, a long stone's throw from Harry Callahan. Like Callahan, Siskind came to Providence to teach at the Rhode Island School of Design. Siskind is much more proficient with a camera than he is with a hammer, so much of the actual construction of the darkroom was done by his students.
Like many well-known photographers, Siskind did not have a complete darkroom for most of his career, and within the past few years he has had both the time and inclination to construct one. The increasing sale of his prints led to long hours in the darkroom to meet the demand and making things comfortable and efficient became of prime importance. Siskind made the entire darkroom one that could be worked comfortably from a sitting position. Both the enlarger baseboard and the sink are set lower than would be required for a standing position. In addition, the enlarger has a focus attachment that allows the machine to be focused without having to reach way up for the knob. This also allows for easy focusing when very large enlargements are being made and the knob is raised high above the baseboard.
Siskind spends a great deal of time making prints and rewashing and "reprocessing older vintage prints that were made in the days before archival processing. In tune with modern theories, he no longer dry mounts; he uses his dry mount press only to flatten prints. As he says about the new archival processing theories, "They really have us running scared."
One of the unexpected fringe benefits of buying an older home was the walk-in cedar closet in which he now stores many of his own prints and prints from his collection.
DeMaio, Joe, Curtin, Dennis, The darkroom handbook - A complete guide to the best design, construction and equipment. Curtin & London inc. Marblehead, Massachusetts, 1979[Sorry, image deleted during forum software upgrade. Please re-upload if so inclined.]
