Enlarge Us
By Christina Wagner

     Friends of photo: curious about photography but not sure where to find a darkroom on 
campus? Undoubtedly some of you have been teased by the prospect of photography at 
Davidson, only to have the facilities leave you sweating for more. Students at freshman 
orientations and senior dinners claim that photographic arts are still in demand. In answer 
to your queries, surprisingly, there are several darkrooms: in the basement of the Union, 
the Chemistry building, the VAC, and the north end of Chambers.
     Snap-happy folks are probably most familiar with the homely inferno in the Union but 
are dissatisfied with its limitations, from its size to its upkeep. Photo Club did petition for 
darkroom space in the new Union but has been denied, owing to the existence of facility 
in the VAC. However, the space designated as a darkroom in the VAC is presently used 
for library storage.  
     Photo club members, when they can stomach the claustrophobia, use the 8x8 cubicle 
in the Union basement for their black-and-white-processing needs. Membership in the 
Photo Club is typically high at the beginning of each year, but it soon declines, likely as a 
result of the facilities. Meetings once held in the Morrison Room move to email when no 
one shows up; the darkroom is frequented more often by roaches and other undesirables 
attracted to the squalid conditions than by members. 
     "Well kids," as chair emeritus Matt Clifford likes to say, "things are going to change." 
Amber Worrell, backed by the Photography Club Board Members, relentlessly pursued a 
darkroom not just in name but in function—thereby rejecting the various mislabeled 
storage rooms scattered about campus as artistic venues. The administration was ready to 
drop all plans for a roach-free, dry, ventilated darkroom, but thanks to Amber’s and the 
Club’s initiative and constant demands, photographers will now enjoy the well kept space 
they deserve. By semester’s end, all the goods from the Union darkroom will be moved 
to the north basement of Chambers in a darkroom next to the ISA Lounge. We’ve got 
plenty of gadgets to pique the interest of novices; we have enough equipment to appease 
those more technically advanced.  And now we’ve got a friendly space to work in that 
has the luxury of hot running water and a refrigerator, a working safelight, a closet that 
won’t leak light and…a radio! A key for access will be available at the Union Desk.