UCD Darkroom?

vintagecosmos

Does anyone know anything about it? I emailed the SU but thought I would ask here. Looks like the Photo Soc is dormant...

kingcobra

I think there's one in Science East? The door is always ajar whenever I pass it, although I don't know if it is used much or not.

vintagecosmos

thanks Im based in blackrock so cant really check it out most days. But if the door is ajar I would have a guess that it could be in a state. If your ever walking past maybe you could poke your head in and have a look

Raphael

There's a sign on a door on the first floor of physics (Science North) that says "Photosoc darkroom" (at least there was last time I checked), so that might be the one to look at. There's probably a few around the science buildings, but they're probably associated to various departments, and may not be publicly usable.

ucdperson

I've been there. I took a photo.

vintagecosmos

Thanks UCDPerson!

Anyone know if the photo soc is dead or alive? Would it be possible to check out the dark room on a Saturday or is everything locked up?

Thanks all for replying.

Riamfada

I was dissapointed to see there was no Photosoc at the Freshers stand. Id be interested in getting invoved with Photosoc or failing that getting together with some other enthusiasts on campus.

kilrush

Im not sure but Draw Soc seem to be about making art with any tools possible so presume a camera counts ? they had photos on their stand anyhow! Maybe throw them an email (draw.society@ucd.ie) :P

vintagecosmos

SU just got back to me to contact the Film Soc. I dropped them a mail so Ill let you know how it goes.

If nothing perhaps we can organise a few heads and get photo soc back up.

Anyone interested?

TheVoodoo

Riamfada wrote: »

I was dissapointed to see there was no Photosoc at the Freshers stand. Id be interested in getting invoved with Photosoc or failing that getting together with some other enthusiasts on campus.

I'd be of the same mind. Feel free to PM to discuss further if you wish.

kingcobra

Sorry, it is Science North, in Physics, where the darkroom is, not Science East like I said. First floor beside the toilets

donvito99

The only photography society I can think of really is CTN (Campus Television).

Might be worth getting in touch with them, they have a photography section I think.

Riamfada

Would people be pushed on meeting up on Friday with cameras?

vintagecosmos

Riamfada wrote: »

Would people be pushed on meeting up on Friday with cameras?

What time? Unfortunately I'm a part timer and busy most days until evening. Either way it would be good to get things going. Film soc got back to me and it looks like there is no photo soc and darkroom is a question mark. Is it too late to start a soc and get funding to get it back in order I wonder

Does anyone shoot film?

Riamfada

vintagecosmos wrote: »

Is it too late to start a soc and get funding to get it back in order I wonder

Does anyone shoot film?

Im a postgrad and all that society lark is far too much hassle. I did it all before. All digital im afraid!

vintagecosmos

Riamfada wrote: »

Im a postgrad and all that society lark is far too much hassle. I did it all before. All digital im afraid!

I'm a postgrad too so perhaps your right, it is a task to get a society off the ground. Any interest in shooting and developing film? Dark room would be defunct otherwise

Riamfada

vintagecosmos wrote: »

I'm a postgrad too so perhaps your right, it is a task to get a society off the ground. Any interest in shooting and developing film? Dark room would be defunct otherwise

I would be very interested. Ill PM you details.

vintagecosmos

might have a lead on the dark room. So far went from UCD SU to Film Soc to Media Services and now to Societies Officer. Ill let you know how I get on.

Jackobyte

If anyone does go on to form a PhotoSOC, I'd be interested in joining. Was one I was disappointed to see absent from the fresher's tent

vintagecosmos

sorry for the delay in updating. I just got an email from Richard Butler the societies officer.

The darkroom is currently closed due to the lack of interest and demise of the photographic society.

However, if there is enough interest and the society can be relaunched it may be possible to get it back.

So whose in? :cool:

Riamfada

Im in, I am doing a Masters so Im not sure how much time I can devote to it. Don't have any film gear but would still love to meet up. I nominate vintage cosmos as our leader.

vintagecosmos

Riamfada wrote: »

Im in, I am doing a Masters so Im not sure how much time I can devote to it. Don't have any film gear but would still love to meet up. I nominate vintage cosmos as our leader.

Thanks for the support. I'll report back once I have more info from societies officer.

Jackobyte

vintagecosmos wrote: »

sorry for the delay in updating. I just got an email from Richard Butler the societies officer.

The darkroom is currently closed due to the lack of interest and demise of the photographic society.

However, if there is enough interest and the society can be relaunched it may be possible to get it back.

So whose in? :cool:

I'm in as well. More interested in the digital side of stuff, as don't have any film gear. I do however have some of the chemicals and equipment at home in Limerick so would like to learn how to use them. Family friend was moving fully to digital and gave me all his development equipment. Was meant to get the camera as well but he ended up selling it. The chemicals are probably gone off at this stage.

vintagecosmos

Jackobyte wrote: »

I'm in as well. More interested in the digital side of stuff, as don't have any film gear. I do however have some of the chemicals and equipment at home in Limerick so would like to learn how to use them. Family friend was moving fully to digital and gave me all his development equipment. Was meant to get the camera as well but he ended up selling it. The chemicals are probably gone off at this stage.

35mm cameras can be gotten really cheap. Even for free. Seeing a film u shot. Developed and enlarged is really a fun experience. It's amazing to see the image show up on the paper in the developing tray.

Just spoke to someone recently who found a bottle of Rodinal (developer) left over from the war. It was uncovered and totally black but still developed for him.

Some chemicals will last longer than others. Hold onto them anyway.

vintagecosmos

Hi All,

Just to update on this, I got back to UCD with several questions and asking to register as a society but have not gotten a response since then. Ill drop them a final mail... hopefully there is a response.

tebbie

Apologies I'm only seeing this now. Head of photography/treasurer at Drawsoc here!

We were all pretty pissed at the demise/disappearance of Photosoc, so when we pitched Drawsoc, we included photography too. We do photography workshops/walks/talks year round. Quite annoyed Butler didn't mention that to you actually.. Anyway, would love to get darkroom things going. As far as I know there's talks of another societal moratorium (banning of the formation of new societies), so if a full photosoc doesn't pan out - feel free to come talk to/meet with us and we'll see if we can get it going under our name!

Nicatous

Did this ever lead anywhere? I've been taking some film photographs over the summer and it would be great to have somewhere to develop them. It kind of seems like a bit of a joke that UCD has a darkroom but wont let people use it. Has the darkroom reopened or would anyone be interested in getting a few people together to try and convince UCD to reopen it?

tebbie

If people are happy to meet with Drawsoc, I'd be happy to approach the right people about reopening it for society purposes.

ms.sunnyb

anyone know it there was any luck with getting the dark room up and running?

Riamfada

Nothing happened with this last year. Is there any sort of photographic society starting this year?

melekalikimaka

I was in CTN for a few years and the photosoc, back in 2000s, the darkrooms have not been used at a guess in a decade, no chemicals and i'd question if there are even enlargers or trays tbh. I believe there was an issue with the water flow back in the day that put the idea on the back burner. realistically given the shelf life of chemicals you need a high volume to make it economical to get going. I went on to do a degree in photography with alot in darkrooms, if needs I'd be happy to help out the soc if it sets up again. But you'll need to see what equip is there and running water or else its dead in the water

Nicatous

From what I can see, there's not going to be any photography society unless we decide to set the foundation ourselves and we would have to talk to people in management to try and get the darkroom reopened. I'm still surprised the biggest university in Ireland doesn't have a photo soc.

tebbie

I've posted about this before but..

Drawsoc, the visual arts soc, do photography and yes, we have been given access to the darkroom. It costs too much money to set it back up because it hasn't been used in that long.