End of the Line

This is a little bit of sadness I thought I would share. The artist in the Museum of Anthropology stopped by my office last week to let me know that their darkroom was being decommissioned and that I should stop by. I never used that particular darkroom, but it has a very personal history for me. You see, the person I bought my house from (Bill Brudon) was the Museum Artist and used that darkroom for a number of years (until he left in 1960 or so), and it held a special place in his heart. The darkroom went from the Museum of Zoology to Anthropology about 16 years ago, and the enlarger that used to be there (an Omega D2) was the one that Bill used. That enlarger eventually found its way to my house a few years ago, and I gave it to a friend that wanted to set up his own darkroom. Bill retired from the University long ago, and is not in good health right now. That darkroom has been through a few iterations, and looks only vaguely the way I remember it when it belonged to the Museum of Zoology. The walls used to be all black, and there was lots of old maple cabinetry -- which still exists on the walls of one side. Given that the workflow at the museum is strictly digital now, of course, it's time for it to go.

Thankfully, I have my own fully stocked darkroom, but it still makes me sad to see another one disappear.