Welcome to Anablogue Phoblography
Workshopping a title for our website blog wasn’t as easy as you think. But I think you’ll all agree we nailed it in the end.
This page serves to keep you abreast of the things that are going on in the shadows, and an opportunity to share cool things going on in the analogue world; open calls, opportunities, stories from our founders and friends, insights into the history of photography and the magic alchemy we love.
And so as a little taster, this is Em with a little ramble through Negative Thinking’s inception and the journey since…
Chatting with Tim, his reasons for starting Negative Thinking sit between solitary artist wanting to be in community with others but not have to speak, and a vision of building something that he just hadn’t yet found. He wanted a place like Negative Thinking to exist. He signed up for the lease of the loft space on Somerset Road at the beginning of 2022, and went to work quietly building himself a darkroom and studio; one for him to make his art and should people want to learn, a place where he could teach people without having to travel to their darkrooms.
20 years of collecting analogue equipment and institutes slimmed down their darkroom offerings, he had plenty to occupy the space.
3 months later Negative Thinking opened its doors to the first 4 folk on a workshop.
Tim met Em in The Bell in Stokes Croft in October, late by half an hour whilst living 50metres away. The joy of online dating platforms is that it puts two people in front of one another that might not otherwise have met. We are very grateful for modern technology!
Since then they have been getting on quite well, Em learning about the darkroom and meeting all the lovely people who used Negative Thinking. 6 months later she quit her job, started self employed work doing business support for artists (Tim included) and whilst we talked about creating something bigger, we weren’t expecting notice on the studio to come in September 2023. By November we had incorporated as a Community Interest Company and had a new space in mind for a January 2024.
As you might be able to tell, that did not go to plan! For the last year we have been waiting, and planning, budgeting, applying for funding, being ejected for funding, and holding on to hope that we could find a place in central Bristol that could house the NT project. This year has taught us so much, but above all it had made us realise how connected our vision is for what we want to build, and that we are stubborn mother hubbards that are hell bent on achieving our goals.
I sit here writing this 3 weeks into the DIY build of our studio in the heart of Bedminster. Yes there have been tears, and sweat and blood and bruises. As we say to anyone who asks: “Its a very intense time.” Ha! It is also glorious and continues to be the making of us. Our brains are divergent from the typical and from each other. There is so much to learn in every waking minute.
We hope that our community continues to grow, with an ethos that allows you all to come as you are. We love meeting you all. We tend to see that the folks that find their way through our doors are seekers, feeling their way through modern life with some gut instinct that feels like a disconnect. We share in the magic of the alchemy of photography and want for you to feel safe to explore what photography can offer. Analogue photography is a medium that folds in art and history and chemistry and engineering, and we aim to hold space for you all to dive in and find your path. This is our shared heritage, everyone has an understanding and an experience of what photography is, we want to open up the world of the darkroom to show you how far you can take it. We are always learning too and the community that we have supports each other and teaches each other. Please know that you are welcome. If you’re new to town, if you find social things overwhelming, if you like being in company and not having to speak, if you are feeling disconnected, come say hello. We will advocate until the cows come home about how precious the slow pace of the darkroom is for our mental health, and how calming it is to create in quiet company. We are folks feeling our way, that want to be part of a community that sits outside of an algorithm.
We have an idea that grows and weaves as the challenges come our way, and now we are so very close to reopening our doors. We are so grateful to the people we have met who have supported us over the last 2 years, people who have knocked on our door, come to a workshop, come for a Crit Club cider, and have held us up when we have felt powerless. We build this for you all, and we can’t wait to see you soon!
Oh the sweetness of being back to business! We can almost taste it…
Think Negative, Make Positive.
