Chromo

Instructor: Bridget Conn | Dates: Sundays, October 4 - 25 | Time: 1 - 3PM ET | Tuition: $270 (Members) $318 (Non-Members) | Class Size Max: 10

Requirements: Access to a darkroom, either at home or through a local community darkroom,* is essential for participating in this course. Students will need to either create prints from negatives or make photograms (either with an enlarger or an exposure unit), a darkroom with a safelight for developing, running water, and an open window or outdoor space for applying the Chromo chemistry. Please note that additional materials and chemistry will need to be purchased for class.

*If a local darkroom does not permit the use of Chromo chemistry, prints can be fully washed and dried in the darkroom, transported home in a light-tight black bag, and then treated with Chromo chemistry and fixed at home or in an outdoor workspace.

Chromoskedasic Sabattier, or "Chromo," is an experimental darkroom technique that introduces color and silvering into silver gelatin prints through the application of specialized chemistry, producing one-of-a-kind multicolor and metallic imagery.

This four-week online course is designed for students who are comfortable making silver gelatin prints from negatives and are interested in incorporating experimentation and chance into their darkroom practice. Through lectures, demonstrations, discussions, and group critiques, participants will learn the brush method of Chromo to create both lens-based and cameraless imagery that considers color, shape, line, and texture in the final print. Topics include home workspace setup, chemical safety and mixing, and how varying chemical ratios influence results. Participants will leave the course with knowledge of contemporary Chromo practitioners, an understanding of the variables that shape the process, and a portfolio of 9-15 unique Chromo prints that explore a variety of approaches within the technique.

Bridget Conn is a photographic artist who explores the potential of photography as a chemical and physical medium through cameraless experimental processes.

Conn’s awards include Klompching Gallery’s FRESH 2022 exhibition finalist, Rfotofolio’s 2021 Denis Roussel Awards, and she was shortlisted for the 2023 and 2024 Denis Roussel Fellowship. She has exhibited at the Center for Fine Art Photography, Fort Collins, CO; the Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester, MA; Candela Books + Gallery, Richmond, VA; The Halide Project, Philadelphia PA; Chiang Mai Photography Festival, Thailand; and Institute of Photographic Studies of Catalonia, Spain; among others. Her work has been featured in Analog Forever Magazine, Focal Plane Journal, and in Christina Z. Anderson’s 2022 book “The Experimental Darkroom”.

Conn is the founder and former director of The Asheville Darkroom in Asheville, North Carolina. An enthusiastic educator, she has taught workshops at the Penland School of Crafts in NC, at The Experimental Photo Festival in Spain, at conferences for the Society for Photographic Education, and at numerous colleges and universities across the USA.

She received her BFA from Tulane University and MFA from the University of Georgia. She currently resides in Nashville, Indiana, USA.