BECKLEY, WV (WOAY) – Those in Beckley who are interested in photography and developing film will soon have a new place to go. Beckley Art Center is in the process of opening a new darkroom that will be open to the public.
On Feb. 12th, the art center is set to open a darkroom to teach people how film and digital cameras work.
“Darkrooms are the original way to create photographs, I mean it’s like the history of photography all in one room. So you’re really slowing down and learning how a camera works and how film works,” Administrative Coordinator Saja Montague said.
Montague said the darkroom has been over 2 years in the making. She said the good part about being closed during the pandemic was that it allowed time for the darkroom to happen. Since the pandemic has started the arts center employees have been hard at work building the new work space.
“You can develop your own film and you can print your own photo. We’re also going to be teaching classes and we really want to teach it to the youth,” she said.
The darkroom will be used as a community space. The art center will offer classes for beginners and allow advanced artists to come and work on their own.
“We’re looking at a few days a week where people could come and have free lab time and pay a small fee for chemicals,” she said.
The art center is accepting donations to help complete and stock the darkroom. If you would like to support the center, you can donate here.
