EPQ ENTRY 17: Expert Interview Results

WEEK 7, PHASE 2

Recently I had met with an expert in London. I planned my journey and all went smoothly. I met an elderly man who was standing outside the door who then took me inside the shop where I then conducted the interview. This is a transcript of our conversation.

I: Interviewer, Me

F: Alex Flax

I: Thank you for this, would it be okay if I asked you a few questions about film photographic development and darkrooms as part of a school project? Also is it okay if I record this interview?

F: Sure, yep.

I: I just wanted to ask you a couple of things, so I was quite confused by all the different brands of darkroom materials especially for the chemicals so would you be able to suggest brands of developer, stop and fix for a darkroom I’m constructing at home?

F: That’s a big question. I built a darkroom from scratch back at my house too and I use chemicals which we sell here in the store. They’re just here under this counter. The yellowish one with the black label is the developer which you use first, then this orange coloured one you’d use second as the stop bath and the clear one is the paper fixer. All of the instructions are on the label and I find are fairly easy to use.

I: Are the chemical concentrations on the label too because I’m not sure how that works either?

F: Yeah they’re all on there and easy to follow, you’ll have to remember that developer concentrations can change though because with film and paper you need different strengths to bring out the contrasts.

I: I see, and what about brand of paper do you think is best, I have a tight budget so the cheaper the paper then the better really.

F: Yeah all paper is cheaper now and you’ll have to be careful because a lot of paper would have been kept in storage for years and could have been affected by light, especially for the cheaper brands. If I was you I’d look at Ilford as they’re known to be the best and aren’t bad for price.

I: Do you sell the paper here?

F: Yeah sure it’s just around the corner over there, I can show you them in a min if you’d like.

I: Yeah that would be great if you wouldn’t mind. What about camera film?

F: What camera are you going to be using?

I: My Canon AV1, I collect old cameras but I’ve used digital Canon’s before so I’d be more used to this one.

F: And what kind of stuff will you be shooting?

I: I’ll be going around London so outside conditions and probably people and architecture.

F: In that case try 35mm Fomapan. They’re cheaper. They’re better for an ISO of about 200 and for worse light conditions so I’d try that and we stock them too

I: Great. Last question then, would you have any suggestions of books that I could learn more from about darkrooms or in particular about enlargement?

F: We don’t have that many books here, I’ll check in the back but I might be able to find something. Books would be the best thing to learn from and I bet there’s loads to read from online.

I: Thank you for that and would you yourself have any advice about what I’m doing?

F: I don’t know really, just be prepared to be patient and make sure you’re doing it in the right room. If this is your first time developing you should definitely do it in a room with space, a sink and tap and completely blocked out windows and doors.

I: In websites I’ve looked at there’s some information about ventilation and wearing gloves as a safety precaution for the chemicals as well.

F: Yeah but that kind of stuff would only be for the professionals who develop all day long. I wouldn’t worry about those if I were you as I don’t and I’ve been developing since I was a kid.

I: No worries then, thank you for your time. You’ve been so useful. Is it okay if I use this recording in my project?

F: That’s no problem at all, and yeah no problem at all. I’ll just go to search for that book and then for the other bits.

From this Alex Flax gave me some suggestions about paper, film, chemicals and a book which would all suit me as an amateur which I then bought. I loaded the film into my camera straight away and began shooting beginning with the outside of Mr Cad. I filled the film up with the 35 shots which will be the film I can use to develop from. I found that speaking with Mr Flax was just as useful as I had predicted and I feel that I got advice given was very personal to me. I won't be pursuing expert advice any further as Mr Flax filled in all the missing gaps and answered all questions that I needed. However, before I left Mr Cad I asked him if needed be could I get into contact again to ask any other questions I may have. For this he gave me a business card so I can contact him in this way if I am in need of this.

#phase2 #expert #research