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Changing my mind on vintage film development after a wake-up call
I've been doing old style photography for a while. People in my group always say you must use the exact chemicals from back in the day. I was developing photos from the 1950s and used a mix that had cadmium, which is poisonous. Getting rid of the waste was a hassle, and I worried about it hurting the environment. My job as a plumber made me think about how stuff can pollute water. So I switched to safer chemicals, even though some folks say it's not real. But if we want these skills to last, we have to make them safe now.
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wendyking7mo ago
Totally agree that we HAVE to make these skills safe to keep them alive. I used to mix toxic toners for prints and switched after seeing how bad the runoff was. The old ways aren't worth poisoning our WATER for, no matter what the purists say.
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xena_brown507mo ago
That "poisoning our water" line hits hard. I helped clean up a local creek after some art school kids dumped photo chemicals, and seeing those rainbow slicks on the water just killed me. Phoenix asking about the safe stuff is the right move. The old guard can yell all they want, but we have to find better ways. Have you found any good workshops for non-toxic methods?
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