Rapid Eye (@rapideye.darkroom)

This summer I got stuck in with some darkroom printing. I started off with a workshop from the legend @george_from_london , which got me hooked! My offcuts and nearly prints have found a temporary home on a wall at home. With one of my favourites being a ramen yatai stand in Fukuoka Japan, from earlier this year. I like this one in particular, honestly, just because it was a lot of fun taking the picture. (Sorry about the dents) Shout out to @koffi.adg, Chris (both of them!) and everyone else i’ve hung out with and learned over the past few weeks. #madeatrapideye

🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪 Excited to have this print made earlier this year as part of @rapideye.darkroom exhibition “I Loved Printing That” on Oct. 2nd.

田舎出身だった私は都会の憧れがあった。子供の頃、当時、ソウル放送からはいつも面白いアニメやイケてる番組が流れてた。 地方だったせいでソウル放送のチャンネルは電波が地方まで送出されず、録画されたソウル放送の番組を数日遅れて見ることができた。それからだったかな、自分の都会に対する憧れができたのは。 東京に来て新宿駅の地下ダンジョンで出口が見つからず２時間ほど道に迷った記憶があった。人混み！人々がどこか忙しそうに移動してる姿が印象的だった。チュンジャン路やクムナン路が全てだった田舎の自分がにはかなりの衝撃だった。 時が流れ、慣れない地ロンドンに来てまた東京やソウルとは違う「めっちゃ」人混みを味わった。ワケのわからない桁違いの人混みだった。どこか似てるけどたくさんの人種が集まった光景は新鮮だった。面白い！２０年前の新宿地下ダンジョンが思い出した。 まるでキャンバスに描いてあるワンシーンのように目には全てがゆっくり時間が流れた。そして考えるまもなくシャッターは押された。 As a rural native, I always longed for the city. When I was a kid, Seoul Broadcasting System always aired interesting anime and cool programs. Because I was in the countryside, the Seoul Broadcasting System’s signal wasn’t broadcast out of the country, so I could watch recorded Seoul Broadcasting System programs a few days late. I think it was then that I began to long for the city. I remember coming to Tokyo and getting lost for about two hours in the underground dungeon of Shinjuku Station, unable to find the exit. The crowds! The sight of people moving around so hurriedly was striking. As a rural person who was all about Chungjang-ro and Geumnam-ro, it was quite a shock for me. Time passed, and I came to London, an unfamiliar place, and once again experienced huge crowds, different from those in Tokyo and Seoul. It was incomprehensible and on a completely different level. The sight of so many different races, all similar in some ways, gathered together was refreshing. It was fascinating! It reminded me of the Shinjuku underground dungeon from 20 years ago. Time passed slowly before my eyes, like a scene painted on a canvas. And before I could even think, the shutter was pushed. collaborate w/ @rapideye.darkroom #madeatrapideye thx @george_from_london

I❤️d printing this image because not only was I in my favourite room on the rental floor Room 5 @rapideye.darkroom but I allowed myself to go totally bonkers on the colour filters - randomly tweaking them no idea what colour I was going to get. I found the cellophane with circles in the bin and plonked it onto the image plus a bit of cutting out of paper to make the halo around the skull and ta dah! Rapid Eye is surely my most happy and creative space and I always have @george_from_london on hand to catch up on the latest gossip! And then a quick chin wag (maybe longer) with the indomitable Lee @photobookcafe What is there not to like? #madeatrapideye @rapideye.darkroom

I ❤️d printing this image last summer about my trip to Marrakech. Right now, I do not remember what room was, but I have a feeling it was room 5. Normally, Room 5 and 7 have good mojo. No idea about Room 8 and in Room 6 the mojo comes and goes. In August 2023, I went with my family to Marrakech to see the city and I brought my Rollei 35 with me. 

The image shows part of the internal courtyard of the Ben Youssef Mosque with two women next to the central fountain. I love this image because of the colours (the turquoise water, the pink hijab), the game of the lines and the composition. I remember I was in one of those little windows with my Rollei 35 and my light meter and I saw this beautiful moment and I took the picture straight away. This image was hand-printed on Fuji Gloss 12x16” with a pre-flash in cyan tone.

Regarding the Rapid Eye community, I just feel very happy and fortunate to be part of this helluva community. The people that runs the place are super friendly and kind. And you get to meet other interesting photographers. I have been hand-printing there since 2022 and the sense of togetherness is always there, personified in these people, people which I have shared nice and cheerful moments. 

If you want to attend “End of Summer Party & Exhibition”, simply share a post or collab with @rapideye.darkroom to be in with a chance to win some cool gifts… Can’t wait to see you all and have good time! #madeatrapideye

Part 2: A walk through Digital C type printing at Rapid Eye with Charlie #darkroom #analoguephotography #photographylovers #digitalctypephotography #digitalctypeprint #printing #digitalprints

Are you coming?! We would love to see you and exhibit and join us for our End of Summer Party and exhibition on Thursday 2nd October at Photobook café. The theme is ‘I Loved Printing that’. The only rule for entry is that you must LOVE printing at Rapid Eye, and choose one of your favourite prints that you’ve made here. Please drop off the original print at Rapid Eye reception by the 20th of September, with your name and also the name of the print stuck to the back. We will be hanging your print in the Photobook Café Gallery. We will stick your print to the wall with masking tape only, as we do in the darkrooms. This will ensure that your print will not get damaged. After the show they will be available for collection the next day at 12pm. Bonus fun we can all do to promote the show and your work - We would love you to make an Instagram post or a reel about the print talking about why you loved making this print so much. You can be as simple or elaborate as you like! Then post on Instagram and if you like, please collaborate with us! You can do this from now till the 20th of September. Most importantly…Come to the exhibition and party on the 2nd October and celebrate with @george_from_london And @consigliere_al who will also be giving out cool darkroom gifts on the night. Hope you like the plan! Any questions ask away, Cheers FromAll at Rapid Eye. #madeatrapideye #photographer #darkroom #printing #rapideye #film #filmphotography #analogue

When it’s time to get the rapideye darkroom machines gleaming again it’s time to get the BIG Guns out! All hands on deck @rapideye.darkroom 💪🏽💪🏽❤️❤️📸📸 #madeatrapideye

A walk through Dev & Scan at Rapid Eye with Charlie #darkroom #photographylovers #analoguephotography #darkroomprinting #digitalctypephotography #filmprocess #bts #rapideye #walkthrough #film #summer #scotland #scotlandroadtrip #tentbox

To be in with a chance to win some cool gifts in @rapideye.darkroom ‘s ‘End of Summer Party & Exhibition’ I ♥️’d Printing That ! Simply do a slightly informative post with images or a reel explaining why you loved printing 1 of your favourite images in any of the darkrooms @rapideye.darkroom All the images must be an original handprint #madeatrapideye at any period of your photographic journey here.All photographs must be dropped at reception by 20/9 & will be displayed @photobookcafe on Thursday 2/10/25 Gifts to be handed out on the night of the party including, Full Day Darkroom Hire + 1 Box Paper Full Day Darkroom Hire Boxes of 10x12 & 12x16”Photo Paper A variety of other darkroom related gifts including film & film processing My post is an eg. of what we’re looking for. I ♥️d printing this image earlier this year in room 7 on the rental floor.Room 7 has really good horsey vibes thanks to you know who,so after I found an old neg of a horse I’d photographed in Hyde Park in the ‘90s I thought I’d print it in there. I was using very, old #kodabromeiirc 20x24” paper that had been rotting in a colleague’s basement for 20years.Only a few full sheets remained.I was up for the challenge.I had to determine the paper quality with a test strip 1st.The paper was so old it was basically a beige yellow with hardly any blacks.The preflash test proved futile but with very long 90+ seconds of exposure & purposeful fogging the edges I could get a black as long as I left the film rebate in.By enlarging & cropping it became more interesting & looked like a toned print & when I photogrammed a Yaka branch on the last sheet it turned into a curios work of abstract art. Share a post or collab with Rapideye to be in it to win it & see you at the party #george_from_london #analoguehandprint

📖✨ Our first quarterly Reading Room at The Photobook Café, a chance to slow down, browse, and get lost in the latest photobooks contributed to our collection. This edition marks the first drop of artists featured, including work by Aaron Heather, Harriet Turney, Dakota Sebourne, Adam Docker, Greta Ilieva, Eternal Happiness, Kenny Smith, James Picaldi, Tom Gullam, John Sealey, Rich Gilligan, Syan Hu, Quentin Evrard, Flip Magazine, and Charles Shen, spanning intimate storytelling, striking visual experiments, and journeys captured across continents. And contributions are still open. If you’ve created a photobook, you can still submit to be included in this season’s selection. Join us at our gallery for an intimate celebration of fresh work and familiar favourites: 🗓 Opening night: Friday 17 October, 6pm–late 🗓 Open hours: Saturday 18 & Sunday 19 October during cafe opening hours Come turn the pages, discover new voices, and share the quiet magic of printed photography. _ Please note our basement gallery has no step free access and 25 steps. _ #PhotobookCafe #ReadingRoom #PhotobookLovers #LondonArtScene #Photography

📣 Photobook Collection Contributions Now Open! We’re building one of the most diverse + inclusive free public photobook collections in the world, and you can be part of it. 🌍📚 ✨ What we want: Photobooks, zines, mags, any genre, any style, from polished to lo-fi. Personal or commercial projects welcome. We love unique, bold, and alternative work. 🤝 How it works: 1️⃣ Register on our site 2️⃣ Submit your work online 3️⃣ If approved, we’ll add it to our public archive + may request a physical copy for our onsite collection. 📅 Every quarter, The Photobook Cafe hosts an evening in our gallery, seeing a reading room to celebrate all new contibutions, free RSVP, good vibes, and plenty of photobook browsing. 🖤 💡 Why contribute? Permanent spot in our online archive Featured in socials, exhibitions, & window displays Your work seen by curators, collectors, & publishers 📍 Open to photographers, publishers, and collectors worldwide just make sure you have permission to share. 📧 archivephotobookcafe @gmail.com 🌐 photobookcafe.co.uk _ 📚 New to the collection📚 We’re thrilled to welcome a fresh wave of publications into our collection — each one offering a unique lens on the world, from deeply personal narratives to bold cultural commentary. ✨ Aaron Heather AH Zine ✨ Undercurrent by Jimmy Hertage ✨ 32 Buroughs by Harriet Turney ✨ The Weapon of Our Bodies: Permanent Symbols of Queer Resistance by Dakota Sebourn ✨ Motion and Emotion by Adam Docker ✨ Rooms by Greta Ilieva ✨️Totes Of Totopara An Indigenous Tribe In A Globalised World by Abhijit aka Eternal Happiness _ #PhotobookCafe #PhotobookCommunity #ZineCulture #PhotoZine