The Print

Today I need to make a print for a portrait I was commissioned to make. It is a relief to dive into the darkroom and work with technology no more advanced than the mid-20th century. This I know how to do. The enlarger I use is the one I grew up on. It was my dad’s Omega DII and is probably 60 years old. It needs no firmware upgrade. I put in a cold light head about 15 years ago, and an electronic timer about the same time, so I suppose it’s version 2.0. I use a laser alignment tool to check the lens plane, probably the most advanced electronic in the room except for the CD player. The physical act of making a print is deeply familiar to me. I place negative in a path of light. I handle a 16"x20" piece of sensitized paper and put it in the easel. The timer beeps every second for almost a minute, then I expose again, burning in only the left side and the boy's pants. I slip the print into the developer and rock occasionally for three minutes. Different solutions then bath the image, alkaline to acid, a silver solvent to fix it, a lot of water to wash it, a toner to archivally seal it. The process is slow. Tomorrow I will finish making the print, then it will dry on a rack for a day or more, then I will flatten it in a press. In the end I hold something tangible, beautiful and handmade.