CMU photo students move out of the dark room, into the lab

Art students will notice something different about one of the dark rooms in Wightman Hall this fall.

It will not be there.

One of the two dark rooms is turning into a computer lab to accommodate for the photography curriculum’s shift to digital photography.

“It’s going to be a change that we need to make to meet new technology,” said Larry Burditt, interim chairman for the art department.

The new curriculum will focus on what photography majors need to strengthen their skills and help them with job prospects.

And with introductory photography courses switching from film to digital, it will help students not majoring in art, said Missa Coffman, professor of photography.

“It will be much more useful than taking one class and it only being in film,” she said.

But dark room use is not being completely taken out of the curriculum. Things are just being restructured, Coffman said.

Film and developing in the dark room will be introduced in the 300-level photo classes instead of the first two being strictly film.

“There’s a lot of misconceptions that the dark room is gone. It’s just moved to different courses. These are great changes,” Coffman said. “There’s more flexibility in our curriculum, so students can get to the information that is most useful in the easiest way.”

Lake Orion senior Jan Kruszewski thinks the option for more digital photography will open a lot of opportunities to students to learn different skills but, as a photography major, he is upset to see so much of the dark room leaving.

“I think there’s really something to value on learning with analog (cameras) in black and white,” he said.

While digital photography students might not appreciate all the work, Kruszewski does believe going digital is a needed step these days.

“I do think it’s necessary, because there’s such a demand for it,” he said. “It’s opened a lot of doors for a lot of students.”

Burditt said this transformation also has a practical use to it as well. Students were having trouble finding photo equipment for the film classes.

“Now (analog cameras) are becoming antiques,” he said. “The older cameras are becoming expensive.”

The project was completed Tuesday, but classes were held in the new lab Monday. In the years to come, the second dark room may also be transformed, but a small dark room will be added to Wightman Hall Room 153.