So it's just me and a camera in the outdoors - and it does not get more fulfilling than that. My darkroom experience in the many-sided art that is true photography is precisely the reason I do not edit images or use filters with my camera - the challenge is to produce an acceptable image of decent quality without any of the electronic equivalents of the darkroom era. But equally crucial is the appreciation that technology has changed so rapidly, especially in the last five years, that the world of colour is what defines our surroundings. Yes, I appreciate that the classical masters of black-and-white photography defined an era to be cherished. As I grew up, I realised that colour photography, even though it was so much more expensive in those days, was just as intriguing. At the time, I didn’t realise (and not surprisingly, given my tender age) that the world of photography would hold several keys in my life.īack then, of course, it was all black-and-white photography in the realm of spool film. It was a world that I approached with great enthusiasm. And I learnt how to use the fixer tray so that the black areas on each print didn’t turn brown. I learnt how to ensure that contrast was always maintained in the prints we produced. I learnt how to cut the emulsion-coated paper. I learnt how to use one of those beautiful, angled, sliding enlargers.
I learnt how to work in the soft glow of the red light in that room. I learnt the value of safety in a confined space. I learnt how to mix chemicals in the correct proportions and where to place the trays. So that year, I learned the intricacies of using a darkroom.
And my interest in photography, kick-started by the joy of using that early box Brownie, has taken me to many amazing places around the world.įor someone who had barely entered my teens, they were pretty significant choices. My interest in flowers, sparked by growing up in a huge home with a rambling, colourful garden, is still an abiding passion that I have passed on to the Authorbloglets. It’s interesting, in retrospect, to look back on my choices – my first preference was the photography group and my second was the horticulture group. I was in my first year in the Upper Division (senior school) at St Joseph’s College, North Point, Darjeeling.Įach student could elect to join two activity groups, in addition to all the sport we played right round the year. When I was 13, I embarked on a great voyage of understanding photography that was to have very far-reaching consequences. It gave me a deep and abiding appreciation for hues and for symmetry – all so crucial for a photographer of any level of experience. Not just by the vivid colours, but also by the patterns that emerged and changed with each turn of a hand. I was very little when I used a kaleidoscope for myself.
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