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I brought her to my darkroom tonight.
We just had this long stroll through the town, I lent her one of my old film cameras, she had fun shooting landscapes and candid scenes elsewhere.
On the car trip back home, she tried to protest. "But I'm tired!" She said, however, I was curious to see her photographs.
Too curious, I can't wait any longer. As we walk along the living room, my fingertips taps around the camera in excitement to see everything my muse captured by herself.
I open the door to the darkroom and flip the safelight switch on. Max looked insecure to get inside, so I took her by the hand through the thin pitch black corridor. The room's entrance is shaped as an U-turn so that no external light would ruin the photographic materials inside.
As we reach the point where the faint amber light bathed us both, her eyes were big and round like two dark and profound wells. Max looked all around with noticeable curiosity, I couldn't help but lightly laugh under my breath.
I open the camera, remove the film, and carefully begin cutting the strip so I can insert it into the magnifier. "Can I help you?" She asks from across the table in a shy voice.
"...Sure... Do you remember the lecture about... development?" I go in short pauses as I'm focusing into cutting the strip accordingly.
"Vaguely, but it's actually the first time I go inside such a room." She picks one of the cut film squares and holds it up towards the amber light source.
"See that big machine up there?" I raise and point towards it. "Can you... remove the lens tray... so we can insert these inside?"
Max cautiously touches the magnifier until she successfully finds the removable tray, placing it over the table I was cutting the film strip. "Is this piece what you need?"
"Yes." I stop cutting, pick one of the little squares, clean it with a microfiber cloth and place it inside the lens tray, cleaning the lens' face outside as well. "Place it back where you found."
In a couple steps, I follow her as she slides the lens back in. I pass a hand over her head and turn in the magnifier machine's light. Max seems fascinated to see the image of her photo reflected in black and white down to the surface. It is a shot of a squirrel holding a walnut. Thanks to this light, I can now see the details of her face much better.
"Do you think the current focus is sharp enough?" I ask her while pointing down to the machine's surface. Max nods vigorously like a little child. "Okay, I'll get the materials ready." I turn the magnifier light off, only the darker amber light is silhouetting us.
"So, if I remember well enough, that paper is sensitive to light, but this shade of red won't damage it, that's why these rooms built for developing photos have red lights inside?" Max asks while I'm picking the paper and the chemicals.
"It actually depends on the brand, but most of them reacts the same." I measure the development chemical and mix it to water. "These are the three chemicals needed to develop the photograph..." I put it into the first tray. "The development bath, where we'll see the photo appear into the paper." I prepare the stopping chemical now. "This is becoming the development stop bath, which stops the first chemical's action." I place it into the second tray. "And the last bath is the fixing, which coats and protects the image inside the paper." Then I prepare the last one.
Max has her hands holding the hem of her white shirt. "...Ooh....." She really looks willing to deal with the materials. "You... You must've done this process so many times, you know it by heart, don't you?"
I release a light laughter. "Less times than you think." Upon reaching the box of photo papers, I pick a single sheet. "Nowadays there's few places like this, digital photography is making things so easier for everyone, only the professional artists will have such ateliers for handmade development." The paper is now fixed under the magnifying lens. "Can you reach the light switch?"
"Is it this button?" Max points, but doesn't switch it.
"Yes. Turn it on, count up to ten seconds, then turn it off." I let her create her own photograph.
She does as instructed, and upon turning the magnifier light off, Max looks confused. "The paper is still totally white, how do I know this is enough?"
"You don't. That's the fun in this process, you need much testing in order to know what actually works and what doesn't." I release the paper from the canvas. "Now pick it and carefully lay inside the first tray."
"How long?" She asks, holding the paper by the corners, hesitating.
"A full minute in the first tray, ten seconds in the second tray, then half a minute in the third tray." I point to each as I told her. "I can set a timer for you."
"Please do." Max looks apprehensive while I procure an old metronome and wind it up.
The metronome is set for a second's ticking, then placed over the long table with the trays. "Whenever you're ready."
She places the sheet over the developer, which slowly drenches the paper down.
"Now pick the tray by the sides and tilt it with slight movements. Take care to prevent spilling the chemical into your hands." Max does as instructed.
As I watch her face brightening up while the photo is being developed, I almost forget about the time count. "Wowsers! What kind of witchcraft is this?!" She's just too cute. "Look at this squirrel! Oh my!"
"Shh, it's a little too soon. Be prepared to pick your photo using these large tweezers, pinch the white border so you don't scratch it." I hand her the tweezers. "And..... Now! Lift the photo. Let it leak the excess over the tray."
Max picked it in a way the photo was turned upside-down. She lightly twisted it up and down while it was still dripping.
"Okay, don't let your guard down, as soon as it stops dripping, place it in the next tray." Max stops the motions as it drips slower. "...Remember, only ten seconds, then lift it again."
She takes a deep breath, then clumsily places it into the next tray. "One, two, three," She counts loudly, totally focused into the instructions. I wipe the tweezers while Max is holding them. "nine... ten!" She vigorously lifts it.
"Oh Max, you're such a natural at this!" I let out a broad smile, she's truly gifted for photography and I'm glad to have her under my wings. "Get ready for the last step."
"Right, count to thirty..." She twists the photo a little further, and when she feels assured enough, she lets the photo into the third tray. This time, she handles me the tweezers by herself, so I can clean the wet beaks. "One, two..." She counts in small whispers now.
I take two more steps towards the sink by the corner of the room. "When you pick it the next time, bring over here, directly under the water current." I let it open in a moderate flux.
"Thirty!" Max lifts her photo and immediately brings it under the water current, leaving a trail of fixer leak all along the path. She's so focused I don't think she even realized this mess.
"Since you're washing it, it's safe to pick with your fingers now." She lets the water run over the entire paper, holding it by the borders.
Max feels so enchanted by it. She says nothing while ogling her work. I shut the water from the sink. "Is it done? Can I take it outside so I can look better?"
"Yes, your photo is ready. After letting it dry, you can even frame it." I sit in the table with the guillotine so I can finish cutting the film.
I can hear her 'fangirling' from outside. She returns shortly later, sitting across my side and looking at the film squares as I cut them.
After a while focused into the cutting, I can hear light snoring. I look up to see Max bent over her crossed arms, peacefully asleep.
All the excitement from today took a toll. Maybe it was the faint amber light from the darkroom. I lift slowly from the table and let her enjoy her rest, quietly developing more photos as she dreams.