Göteborg, Sweden
I’m currently looking for a rental space to build a darkroom in Gothenburg, Sweden.
At this point I need a dedicated space where I can safely archive my negatives, develop films, and print new photographs. The scales of the whole process are growing, and I can’t anymore fit into a tiny corner of a rental apartment. With a new darkroom I’ll be able to make a few steps forward in terms of both quality, and efficiency.
It is expected to be a long-term project without an end date. The planning span is 5 years. The rental contract can be signed with me as a private person, or with a legal entity owned and managed by me.
| Location | Google Maps | There are a few regions on the map that I see as suitable places to set up a darkroom. I’m looking forward to hearing other options as well, as I’m fairly new to this city. |
| Floor space | 15 m2 | That’s an optimal area for most of the planned operations. I’m not ready to have less than 10 m2. |
| Water | Cold water | Cold water is absolutely required. Hot water would be a great bonus. |
| Ventilation | Inlet ventilation | It’s crucial to have fresh air flowing into the space. I don’t expect it to be ready to use provided by the landlord, but it should be possible to arrange by myself. |
| Power | 4 kWh | Electricity is required for general use like tea kettle, computer, etc. |
| Access Time | 24/7/365 | It’s crucial to have access to the space at all times. |
| Internet/landline | Not required | |
| Public Access | Not required | There is no plan to have this space publicly available. Meaning, this is not going to be a drop-in operation. |
| Price | 2500 SEK/mo | This is a median rent price I can afford. Expected to vary within 500-800 SEK. |
Please, reach out to me directly with any related offers: my contacts
Saint Petersburg, Russia
The third darkroom was in Saint Petersburg, Russia. I had dedicated some space for it in the second room of my apartment. I built a wooden skeleton, wrapped it with studio background paper, built an improvised door out of a roll curtain. Turned out to be light tight. By that time I bought Meopta Opemus 6a with Color 4es head. Later added Durst Laborator L-900 with Rodenstok 80mm and 50mm lenses. Then Changed Meopta to Omega B-8 with Schneider W.A. Componon lenses.
In April 2019 I’ve bought a new item for my darkroom which was DeVere 504 enlarger with an Ilford Multigrade head. And few months later I also got a huge 50×60 Kaiser easel. These things barely fit into my shack. At the end of 2019 I’ve finally sold my Durst Laborator 900 because DeVere 504 completely covered Durst’s functionality.
Tomsk, Russia
The second darkroom was in my living room at the same apartment in Tomsk, Russia. By this time I’ve got a quite decent thing: Krokus GFA 69s with more or less good condensers. Enlarger has been stored in a saray since 90’s in a countryside of Novosibirsk, Russia. Let’s say it didn’t smell or look good. After CLA enlarger was ready to use. Later I made custom glassless negative carrier frames out of aluminum, bought Industar-23U 110mm and Vega-11U 50mm.
And my first darkroom was in my own bathroom in Tomsk, Russia. It has a temporary formation, as it’s usual for bathrooms. First enlarger was UPA-601. Not the worst one but still terrible. Then, thanks to my friend, I’ve got a Krokus 4SL. It had bubbles in the condenser lenses and this caused defects on the prints. But I could print photographs from type 120 film, which was a step forward.