Today we’d like to introduce you to Lucia Rollow.
Hi Lucia, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I originally founded the Bushwick Community Darkroom in a closet of my loft building in Brooklyn in 2011. Over the last 12 years we’ve seen several iterations and are currently in the process of leaving the crumbling warehouse we’ve been in for 8 years to move into a beautiful storefront space with windows and heat!
We got to AQUA Miami through our partnership with the SHIM/Art Network. SHIM is a global art network connecting artists of all mediums with exhibition and sales opportunities in real life via pop-up exhibits & participation in art fairs and online via our Artsy gallery.
SHIM/Photo is a subset of the SHIM/Art Network exclusively for photographers, analog or digital. In addition to exhibition opportunities SHIM/Photographers get 20% off at the Bushwick Community Darkroom and all member labs of the United Film Lab network which aims to have partners all everywhere SHIM exhibits.
The last few years have been tumultuous to say the least and this year we’re looking forward to actually being able to set and meet goals instead of having to postpone them due to a new COVID variant. Fingers crossed we’re approaching the end of this pandemic…
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
So many challenges… Several lawsuits/court cases, a crumbling building, an overwhelming tidal wave of mail in film orders as soon as the pandemic hit, trying to figure out how to re-open a space designed to host humans within close quarters without creating a superspreader site, several relocations, bad business partners, cranky clients, the list goes on and on and on. So why keep doing it right? I guess b/c those that appreciate it appreciate it just enough and personally, I just don’t want to live in a world without the Bushwick Community Darkroom or SHIM/Art Network.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Bushwick Community Darkroom?
BCD is a community darkroom. We have traditional darkroom facilities for color, b&w, and a myriad of alternative processes. We welcome drop-in hourly rental of our facilities for the public on a daily basis and for members on a 24/7/365 basis. We also offer classes, exhibits, and a variety of other events (want to propose to your SO in our darkroom? We’ve got you.) For folks that don’t want to get their hands dirty we offer mail-in film developing, scanning & printing services via our partner United Film Lab.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
The hundreds of people that have contributed man-hours to building and running the various spaces have been the most essential. There are far too many to list by name, but I have had many personal advisors over the years as well as business associates, assistants, interns, and volunteers. My staff have all been with me for 5+ years. My family has been surprisingly supportive for a collection of New England WASPs. Of course, without the members and customers, there would be no darkroom. It is a community space, and it is supported by a vast community of wonderful humans.
Pricing:
- Film Developing from $10/roll
- Darkroom Rental from $10/hr
- Membership from $15/mo
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bushwickcommunitydarkroom.com, www.unitedfilmlab.com
- Instagram: bushwickdkrm, unitedfilmlab
- Facebook: bushwickcommunitydarkroom
- Twitter: bushwickdarkroom
- Youtube: bushwickcommunitydarkroom
Image Credits
Lucia Rollow
