As all good things have to come to an end, this is the last darkroom shown in the book.
It is the darkroom of Joe DeMaio, the author of this book and many others. The darkroom is a shared darkroom of modest size. Hopefully, it will be inspiring.
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...
Winchester is one of the many nineteenth-century towns located on the immediate outskirts of Boston. It is dominated by large, ornate, Victorian homes and it is in one of these that Joe DeMaio lives and has his darkroom.
DeMaio began his career as a chemical engineer and at some point chose the more risky, but for him more interesting, life of a photographer. He now spends all of his time either making prints and photographs or teaching at local colleges and universities.
DeMaio, like many photographers, has installed darkrooms in several apartments and houses as he has moved from one to another. These darkrooms have been located in bathrooms, kitchens, and basements. His kitchen darkrooms worked well but the problems of eating and processing with toxic chemicals in the same space made them less than ideal.
His new darkroom is shared with Debora Vander Molen and making the space work well for two people required careful planning. The darkroom and adjoining work areas are near each other on the second floor of the house. The darkroom is entered through a light trap constructed by removing the back wall from an adjoining closet and light-proofing the space with hanging light-proof drapes.
The darkroom has a feeling of being part of the living space and yet does not need to serve two purposes. It is a great improvement over his last darkroom, which was in a basement and had a distinctly subterranean feeling. In the new space DeMaio can open the windows when processing roll film and the view makes the long development cycles easier to live with.
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.]
