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My Favourite Place To Be

Marty Rigby

Emerging photographer Marty Rigby describes his passion for the darkroom

The darkroom is one of my favourite places to be, the only place I don't have to even listen to music, which is saying something. Even my thoughts mellow out once I'm in the darkened room - maybe it's the red lights that are supposed to be good for relaxation. Maybe it's the focus on thepassing of time and pure creativity. It's always the highlight of my week when I book a session at the Assembly Arts darkroom, a place to be still, contemplative and absorbed in the process of photography.


This is why Assembly Arts is such an important place, and I feel lucky to have it so close to home. It keeps creativity alive, willing you to develop your skills and ideas. Urging you to dig deep and follow your passions. For me it's a safe space from the  world, somewhere I can really be me.


The art of film photography and developing your own photos is just as important - if not more - as digital photography that is only advancing into the future. It is the roots that one must navigate to truly understand the art of photography. There is a magic in watching the image appear in the tray of chemicals. A chemistry is created that makes the photos somehow mean more.


It's about experimentation and intuition, personality and heart. It harks back to hands on creativity, an art

that is being lost in this digital world.


Yet it is so poignant and important, it simply cannot be lost.


If I don't want to lug around my digital camera and my various lenses I will always have my film camera on me. My aim; to invoke those candid 70s shots, I've been told it's worked. I use it, too, to take (I hope high fashion) portraits of my friends. I could of course use my digital camera for this - but there's a sense of excitement with using a film camera - limited shots to get THE photograph. A mystery and journey to get the results. It makes me really think about what I want from the image and sometimes even see my digital camera as a practice for using my film one.


Don't get me wrong - my digital camera is just as important to me, not least as I won it in a photography competition and my latest lens is a parting gift from my grandad. It is used all the time and is a massive part of how I express myself. The quality of a good, sharp, colourful photo is so amazing it still makes me flutter with excitement to this day.


I think it always will.


At the moment I am figuring out colour gradients of my photography with it - especially for concert photography - and having fun making the images pop. Whilst, with my film camera I love the starkness of black and white, love the slight grainyness and feel I will always predominantly use it to photograph in black and white as I don't have to focus on the colours, just the creativity and making the subject stand out.


Both digital and film photography challenge me in different ways.


I love that. It's so interesting and both are important to my photography.


@M4rtyphotography

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