PRINT SPACE B&W NYC...AWESOME RENTAL DARKROOMS
PRINT SPACE...TOP OF THE FOOD CHAIN
Rental darkrooms have traditionally been dreary, smelly places.
New York City, never known for spaciousness or amenities, long had some of the most disheartening rental darkrooms imaginable.
However, Manhattan gained a large, modern workplace with the opening of Print Space's black-and-white rental darkrooms in the late nineties.
Print Space B&W is still going strong in late 2007.
As several NYC rental darkrooms succumbed to the digital onslaught, Print Space’s B&W operation, clearly top of the food chain, has prospered.
You’ve never seen anything like this facility, certainly not in NYC. I toured the space during construction (for an article in PDN) and later I printed there. Print Space is, hands down, the most technically advanced and most comfortable darkroom I’ve ever used.
Printing at Print Space, NYC: temperature-controlled water, keypad-controlled variable contrast and state-of-the-art ventilation. Note the ductwork that hangs about a foot over tray level: that’s the out-with-the-bad-air part of Print Space’s amazing ventilation system.
Photo Courtesy Print Space
The emphasis is on high technical standards, efficiency and personal comfort in the appealing, loft-like space.
Co-owner Jeff Hutchinson says workers can do more printing per hour because of amenities like temperature-controlled water throughout. That’s correct: 68-degrees on demand. All printers need to bring is paper; everything else is provided.
A key comfort factor is the B&W facility's extensive ventilation system. "It’s a black-and-white darkroom operation that doesn't smell like one," says Hutchinson (who owns Print Space with his brother David). Every large darkroom sink has a huge, custom-made ventilation hood right above tray level; stale air is exhausted and fresh air is fed in constantly.
The black-and-white operation has four private darkrooms with Omega D5 enlargers with Ilford 500 Multigrade light heads, featuring programmable digital timers. (Ilford 500s use two light sources and a diffusion chamber for stronger, more even light than condenser heads. Contrast grade is controlled from the timer keypad, so VC filters are not needed, and so split contrast printing is facilitated.) Maximum print size in these rooms is 20x24”. Archival print washing is also available.
Another private room has a Durst 10x10” enlarger with Durst Multigrade head and 30 x 40-inch print capability.
Stainless steel troughs are available for mural printing of up to 40x40” (at additional cost).
Print Space took a stab at offering inkjet B&W printing, “but everyone uses different media and profiles; there was too much reconfiguring needed for each customer,” Hutchinson explains.
Ironically Print Space’s color darkroom facility has diminished while the B&W rooms are burgeoning. (Inkjet color greatly reduced the demand for color darkrooms, the owners say. As a result, the two-floor facility became one, with the now all-digital color operations moved into the newer B&W floor.)
The B&W rooms are running at full capacity; Hutchinson suggests booking space several days ahead of t ime.
Technical help is also available. "Our staff are all art school graduates and photographers who are willing and able to provide technical guidance," Hutchinson adds.
Print Space - Hourly Rates: Private B&W darkroom - $18.00; 8x10 enlarger darkroom - $20.00; mural printing - $25.00. Discounted package rates are available.
Other facilities/services include: Chromira Digital C printer, Imacon scanners, well-priced C-41 color film processing (for all major film sizes).
Print Space 151 West 19th Street, Manhattan. Telephone (212) 255-1919.
--Eric Rudolph, November 2007
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