ECO PRAXIS 4 SESSION CONDENSED WORKSHOP

March 16th and 23rd, April 6th and 13th 2024, 6 pm UK

EcoPraxis in the Film Lab

A series of online workshops that aim to encourage darkroom users to put into practice a more sustainable, efficient, and eco way of work. Eco-film work not only involves using processing solutions that are low toxic. It is also related to knowing how to deal with toxicity, how to degrade solutions before discarding them, and how to manage a film workspace. 

You don't need any experience or chemistry knowledge to enter the classes.

The upcoming dates include all the modules below described in one workshop!! Ascorbate, plant-based, and iron developers. Reversal Process and waste management will be covered.

Sessions 1 and 2 fee is 120 USD [Ascorbate, plant-based and iron developers]

Sessions 1 to 4 fee is 200 USD [The above topics plus reversal process and waste management]


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module 1 - Ascorbate developers


A biodegradable film solution based only on ascorbic acid as a B&W developer agent is the basis for any plant/fruit developer. Understanding how it works and how to prepare it will improve any of the plant-based processing solutions you are willing to try. 

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module 2 - Phenol/Ascorbate Developers




Plant extracts are widely used in our daily life, beverages, medicines, inks and food are the main use of them. One of the compounds extracted is the famous polyphenolic group that has several benefits for human health and they are a powerful silver reducer, so it can be used to convert the latent image in film into a visible metallic silver image.


Phenols extracted from plants will form a superadditive with sodium ascorbate, just like hydroquinone and metol do, to become a powerful biodegradable film developer. Performing a good phenol extraction will improve the solution performance.

Working with a phenol-ascorbate developer is safe and can give you perfect results!





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module 3 - Ferric Developers



Iron developers had been used in the early days of photography but were completely suppressed by organic developers.

Inorganic developers [ferric, titanium, or hydrogen peroxide] offer interesting possibilities, which can be combined with ascorbate or phenol-ascorbate developers to process film, paper, or plates. Are safe to be used, prepared, and gives nice results with almost all modern films.


Inorganic developers were produced using ferric oxalate,  which involves the use of oxalic acid which is toxic. Luckily it can also be prepared using other complex ions like citrate, lactate, sulfate, or acetate.


The ferric developer's workshop intends to introduce the participants to the construction and use of iron-based developers coming from iron waste.


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module 4 - Eco Reversal Film Process


Reversal is a process by which you obtain a positive image from a film or photo paper.


Almost all of the reversal processes use oxidizers and strong acids. Some of those baths are poisonous but have perfect results. Some are not a poison, the resultant image is fine, but not as perfect as the poisonous ones.


Eco Reversal is tricky, even if you start with a non-toxic reversal bleach bath like paracetic acid bleach, it will be toxic after it is used. Why? Because the form that the dissolved silver has in it is toxic.


Reversal sets a point where the method is more important than the solutions used to obtain an eco process. That's why we will cover all reversal methods. The toxic starts and how to end with a non-toxic waste. The not-too-toxic starts that end with toxic silver and how to handle it. And we will review how to use plant extractions to obtain a bleach bath in combination with H2O2.


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module 5 - Waste Management in the Film Lab


Darkroom users deal with many things that can affect the environment and people if they are not properly handled. State environmental regulations explain what legally can and cannot be done with these materials, but there is more than legality, it must be ethic-conscious respect for the environment that needs to be applied even if we process just a roll a month.


Eco Praxis in the Film Lab Waste module focuses on pollution prevention and waste management in artist-run darkrooms, kitchen sink labs, or small to medium-scale labs.


We need to do all that we can to reduce the amount and toxicity of the pollution we generate and deeply think about the impact of our actions and look for a way to limit that impact.


Eco Praxis Waste Management is a two-session online workshop that will cover mainly all the solutions used in our practice.