The darkroom at La Chancelle is a space devoted to experimentation, calm, and slowness. It’s where portraits take their final form—not on a screen, but on paper. In dim light, we weigh, we prepare, we watch the image come to life — with calm gestures and quiet focus.
The processes used are old, slow, and exacting. Paper is first humidified in a handmade chamber. The platinum/palladium or Van Dyke solutions are brushed on manually. Every step matters; every print is unique. Powdered chemicals such as developer or fixer are weighed with precision, then mixed with distilled water. During development, the trays are gently rocked—as if tending to something being born.
This isn’t simply about printing a photograph. It’s about revealing it—slowly—within the very fibres of the paper. The long rhythm of the print echoes that of the portrait itself.
In this peaceful space, music sometimes accompanies the gestures. On the darkroom window sill sits a small bust of Beethoven, watching over the process with a still, thoughtful gaze. The quiet presence of Bach, Mozart or Beethoven, playing softly in the background, lends rhythm to the work and supports the atmosphere of care and presence that each print requires.
Here, the image becomes an object, a trace, a presence.
