Bushwick Community Darkroom

Wow!! It’s been almost a year since we opened our doors and things have just been swell!! We’re so excited to have met all of you and see the wonderful work that has been created in our space. Congratulations!

We’re having a birthday show!! The weekend of February 24 (it will either be on Friday or Saturday night, haven’t decided just yet) We have some great bands and photographers on the bill (we’ll give you some names a little closer to the date, promise.) But we’re still looking for a couple more.

Photographers: We are looking for analog photography, preferably analog all the way through to the print but if you have a print from a scanned negative we’ll take a look. The work does not need to have been done in the darkroom but if it was that’s even better! Send us some links and we’ll let you know if we can put you in the show! It’s going to be great

Bands/Musicians: We’re looking for lady rock bands. I’m well aware that this is not a genre per-se but we’ve seen so many awesome dude rock bands in Brooklyn we would really like to take this opportunity to put the spotlight on some of the awesome lady bands in Brooklyn. So, if you’re a girl and you’re in an awesome rock band and you would like to play a show at the end of February send us some links to your music and we’ll put you on the bill!

Stay tuned for updates and plan on celebrating our birthday with us! Maybe there will even be cake

I can’t believe I never posted about this girl! Something about waiting for Ruth to post her interview where I shot that I shot these photos for first… But then I lost track of time and now Kerri’s leaving us! That’s right! She’s moving back down to North Carolina! Where she’s originally from. We’re super sad to see her go, but can’t be overly sad because the reason she’s going is so she can record a full length album! Something that has probably been needing to happen for longer than I can even begin to imagine and has certainly been needing to happen for as long as I can imagine.

Kerri is wonderful, she has a beautiful soulful voice that’s incredibly comforting and to think that she learned to play the guitar just about 3 years ago is simply unbelievable. For the full story in Kerri’s own words check out this interview! Our pictures are also the ones featured there! Yay!

Obviously traveling halfway down the coast and recording an album isn’t the cheapest process in the world so she’s running a Kickstarter fund to help cover costs! This is just great! Remember one year ago when we were running a Kickstarter to get off the ground?! It worked and now we have an amazing darkroom that is growing and developing in ways we never could have imagined! So lets all pitch in a bit and help make dreams come true

And while you’re getting into the holiday giving mode make sure you head over to our fundraiser page to help us raise funds to move into our new location in DECEMBER!

It seems it might possibly be a good idea to mention to the vast world of the interwebs that the darkroom will be closed from November 12-26. We will not be taking reservations for this time because we will be in California visiting all those friends that have slowly been moving out there over the last 4 years. That wonderful, beautiful, happy, sunny land where everything is glorious and everyone is always happy. Erm, well, maybe not quite like that. But that’s where we’ll be because it’s been way too long since our last vacation! We’ll be taking reservations again for November 27 and do still have a few open slots for this week from 4pm-10pm so if you would like to come print just let us know!!!

One night before it got cold out I went to one of my favorite local haunts Pine Box Rock Shop to see my friend Carin play with her band Dr. Beam & the Semi-Acoustic Machine (post to follow on that set). I was about to head out the door after seeing her play, standing outside the bar shooting the shit, or smoking a cigarette or something. I don’t remember exactly what I was doing, but I do remember my psuedo-sometimes-once was friend Cody running out of the bar when these guys took the stage and yelling at all of us that we had to go in because they sounded just like our friends Not Blood, Paint except more 70′s influenced and less electronic. Now I’ve never heard a band that sounds like Not Blood, Paint, let alone an NBP from the 70′s and less electronic. My curiosity was piqued and boy am I glad. As I marched back inside I really had no idea what was waiting for me. Seeing these guys was the most fun I’ve had at a show in a long time. It made me not want to go to any more shows ever just because they were so good and fun. I went in and immediately started dancing, to this happy beautiful very retro music. I think the analogy to NBP came from the fact that these guys are so fucking tight. Each one is a master of his craft and they work together incredibly. Their lyrics are eloquent simple and beautiful, never distracting or disheartening. Their beats are lively but also sincere and serious. These guys are just straight up fucking fantastic musicians who put on an incredible show and if you EVER have an opportunity to see them I promise you it will be the most fun you have had in a long, long time. LES RACQUET ladies and gentlemen.

Just in case you haven’t heard we’re having a fundraiser THIS SATURDAY!! We have several excellent bands, lots of great photography that’s been done in the darkroom since we opened AND a whole bunch of gorgeous custom designed t-shirts made just for this event! Doors open at 7, bands start promptly at 8. It’s going to be a great time with lots of fun and interesting folks who love film photography. Come hang out, drink some beers, see some great music and photography and get yourself a t-shirt to remember the evening with All the info is listed below so check out the bands and artists that are participating before you come on by!

It was one year ago that we came up with this idea, 8 months ago that we opened our doors, and it certainly seems like the sky is the limit!

We’re going to move into a bigger space, soon. And we need your help!

So Come on out to WERDINK Screen printing & Pop up shop (HBTK) aka Ninja Pyrate Playground ~ (http://brooklyn-spaces.com/2011/06/werdink-ninja-pyrate/)

20 meadow street 1st floor Brooklyn NY 11206

Hang out, Hear some awesome music, drink some beers, see some of the work that’s been done in the Darkroom, meet some of the folks that have worked there, connect with like minded people, remember why we all love BROOKLYN….and most importantly get involved with YOUR community!!!

Band list & links:

Backwords: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Backwords/96389976257

Broken Glow: https://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=57645413028

The Furies: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Furies/174774989412?sk=wall

Chicks Throwing Bricks: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002773883290

DJ Slimmy Jimmy (Disco/Funk ~ HBTK): https://www.facebook.com/slimrockwell

$10 suggested donation, $3 beers, prints & possibly other treats

LIMITED EDITION ART MERCH will be made especially for this event, Contributions from:

Ian Acid (333 Theory/ werdink)

https://www.facebook.com/333theory

Garrison Buxton & Alison Buxton (Ad Hoc Art)

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=521047671

Ray Cross (Panoptic Press/ Bushwick Print Lab)

https://www.facebook.com/groups/65970631573/

James Petty (Workplay Media/ HBTK)

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Work-Play-Media/195484323845086

all hand printed by Werdink (HBTK)….All proceeds will go directly to The Darkroom fund! Check these kids out……

Mark your calendars, tell your friends, invite your family, it’s going to be excellent. So just do it…. Come check some bands, see some art, get hammered and contribute to a great cause!!!

* SIDE NOTE: This party is about people who want to keep Film ALIVE! ~

Event space:

werdink (HBTK)( : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Werdink-Screen-Printing-Pop-up-shop/199413396747266

Ninja Pyrate : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ninja-Pyrate/191198904257824

Check out some of the exclusive t-shirts we’ll be selling too!!

What a month it has been over here! The hustle and bustle of preparing for fall as summer winds down has been nearly overwhelming! But here we are, suddenly halfway through September and still solidly afloat.

We’ve got some new roommates at home.

We’re done with all that dog-sitting so we’ll actually be around and open all the time again. (good lord do dogs need attention or what!)

We’ve been shooting up a storm so now the film is processed and once the prints are done we’ll have new blog posts every couple of days.

We also got approved for fiscal sponsorship through Fractured Atlas! We’re still working on learning exactly what that means for us and how to go about utilizing it in the most effective manner possible but we’re hoping to be able to raise some funds and move out of the basement into a bright beautiful new space by the springtime! We’ll certainly keep you posted on updates and if you have any words of wisdom or snippets of info that might be helpful please do not hesitate to send them to us at bushwickcommunitydarkroom@gmail.com.

New Photo posts will be up mid-week

The darkroom is now searchable both on Linkedin and the Brooklyn Arts Council Organizations Directory! Cool!! We’re developing so many different ways for people to find out all about us this is wonderful and rather incredible.

Check those pages out here:

Linkedin

BAC Directory

As you may know a few months ago a couple of NYPD officers were acquitted of rape charges brought against them in 2008 by a woman residing in the east village. For the full story see this MSNBC article. It’s an insane and depressing story and really made me and those around me question, yet again, the supposed United States Justice System. Every day it seems like more and more of a tragic facade.

The day after the acquittal there was a rally to protest outside of the lower Manhattan courthouse where the “sentencing” was delivered. I went, with a few of my friends, assuming it would be a huge rally because in our opinions this was just an atrocious occurrence. We arrived to a dismally small crowd. The folks that were there were highly enthusiastic and the always on point Hungry March Band made sure to make an appearance. But personally I was disappointed in the abilities of our own friends and neighbors to come out and show their support of a tragically victimized woman.

Here are a few of the photos I took at the rally.

After several weeks of not being able to find or make the time I finally woke up at 6:30 this morning and didn’t have to hike all the way from good ol’ Bushwick to the Upper East Side. So I hauled myself down to my basement and locked myself in the darkroom! Great way to spend the morning, looking at these boys beautiful faces.

I shot these at the Broken Glow EP release show a few weeks ago (three?) and then a few days later the FBI came looking for them in the loft that they recently moved out of on McKibbin St. Hilarious. Do these guys look like computer hackers to you? They look like rockstars to me. And they sound like it too. Check out their myspace, apparently they’re going on tour pretty in August so check em out when they come to your town!!

A couple of weeks ago my friend Ruth called me up and asked me to take some photos for and interview she was doing with another of our friends. Obviously I said yes, so here we have some great photos of the wonderful Erik Meier!

Erik is another Bushwick singer songwriter who works a mysterious magic with just his acoustic guitar and melodic voice. There is something mesmerizing about his songs, they suck you in and don’t let go until they’re over. I tried to capture that, I’m not sure I succeeded, but I think I got something sort of nice here.

Check out some of his music here:

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