Bringing Analog Photography to Light with the Knoxville Darkroom

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Lately, @hobotang and I have been shooting film like crazy.

His recent post about Fujifilm NPH 400 was even @curie'd. 👏🏼 I recently wrote an article that's yet to be published about the place where we develop our film, the Knoxville Darkroom. Get to know our hometown darkroom, which happens to be a 501c3 nonprofit organization make film photography accessible to our city.


“I walk in here with nothing, and I walk out with something that I made.”

~ Jacob Long, Knoxville Darkroom founding board member.

It seems like everyone is a photographer, with smartphones in every pocket and easy-to-use photo apps producing professional-looking images with a few swipes on a slider. While digital imaging appears to be the dominating photographic art form, analog photography is making a major comeback.

Hidden from the hustle and bustle of Kingston Pike on Homberg Drive, a few doors down from Jerry’s Artarama is the Knoxville Darkroom, a membership-based self-service photo development and printing lab. This year marks the first anniversary of the darkroom, originated by Lisa Flanary, photography professor at Carson-Newman, and a handful of photography professionals and enthusiasts in Knoxville.

The Knoxville Darkroom was created primarily to bring analog photography education to the Knoxville community, while serving as a one-stop space to process your own film. There are three tiers of membership: Drop-in, Monthly, and Yearly, which offers the member a key to the darkroom and 24/7 access to all the chemistry, supplies, and machinery one might need to transform their exposed film into printed artwork.

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Chemistry provided by the Knoxville Darkroom.

Before the Knoxville Darkroom, board member Jacob Long had been “using his bathroom,” as the most accessible place for a darkroom. He had to set up and break down his equipment every time he developed, acquire and mix the necessary chemistry, and organize his space to be precise enough for developing film, which I’m sure you know is a tricky balance.

Now, thanks to generous donations from the local community, the Knoxville Darkroom has everything an artist could need to develop their film - including the ability to scan and digitize their negatives into digital images.

When the darkroom first opened, word spread about the nonprofit organization that could benefit from folks’ unused photography and development equipment, most of which that had sat collecting dust in their basement for years. Local residents donated cameras, photo enlargers, chemistry and development accessories, a large negative drier, and a menagerie of antique oddities, some of which still work! The darkroom continues to accept donations and encourages people to bring their unused cameras and equipment to help others experience film photography for themselves.

According to Lisa Flanary, there are a lot of people in Knoxville that shoot film photography, a lot who used to shoot film, and a lot of people who want to learn. Film photography has made a comeback in indie art communities. Do a search for #filmphotography on Instagram and see close to 10 million images.

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The cutting table where we view our negatives, size them for scanning and storage, and prepare for digitizing.

If you took film photography in high school or college, or if you haven’t practiced the ritual of developing since the eighties, the Knoxville Darkroom puts education first with weekly orientations and monthly classes on a variety of topics.

Every Monday, the darkroom hosts a general orientation, which I visited before becoming a member last September. A volunteer takes you on a tour of the space, which is a modest but functional building with a community room and computer station, darkroom, developing lab, and upstairs loft that’s full of donated treasures. Visitors are given a one-page handout that details the basic development process for black-and-white film, the easiest entry point for beginners and for those who haven’t developed in a long time.

I left the orientation completely jazzed about the Knoxville Darkroom, becoming a member shortly after my first experience. What truly pushed me to join was attending one of the darkroom’s Camera Swaps, hosted seasonally and attended by enthusiasts and collectors from all over the city.

In addition to camera swaps, the darkroom hosts a variety of educational events. This summer, you can join them for:

8 x 10 Large Format Polaroid Workshop | June 10

Portfolio Review | June 13

Summer Photo Camp, ages 8 - 13 | June 27 - 29

To learn more about the Knoxville Darkroom and to become a member, visit the darkroom on a Monday night or visit their website at www.theknoxvillecommunitydarkroom.org.


Another installment in my budding career as an amateur journalist. I like to go around town and seek good news. Have feedback for my journalistic style? Have a story you think I should cover?

Share with me in the comments below!


Hi, I'm Amelia! It's nice to meet you.

I'm a writer, minimalist, tiny home dweller, and maker living in East Tennessee, USA. You might have found me through the Ladies of Steemit curation initiative, showcasing the female voices on the Steemit platform. Let's hang out on the blockchain and see where it takes us.


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we want to see more film photos :-) post please!

Stay tuned! Gotta get those scans ready for you guys.

thanks 😀

Less words more photos! Just kidding...

I have not seen film for ages after everything switches to digital with our mobile phone with camera function. Used to see show about people developing film in dark room. I am your new follower from Singapore and will give this post a little upvote! See your around!

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