More than God —or Goddess— ever intended one human to ever own . . .
I hereby confess before you, my peers, that I am a compulsive enlarger buyer — or, sometimes, a ready and willing receiver of enlarger donations from fellow —or I should say, former!— printers who are curing themselves of the same disorder (aka: a "sucker"). This has of course been exacerbated by the drastic price drops in used enlargers that corresponded with the rise of digital photography. Not my fault.
My only reasonable explanation (or excuse) is that —as a former Durst tech rep— I know the quality behind certain enlargers. It's impossible for me to resist snapping up a Durst M605, complete and pristine, when it's only 40 euros, or when a friend tells me that he's about to throw out an enlarger and asks, "Do you want it?", I answer, "Certainly not I have too many as it is what kind is it?".
Him: "A Focomat with the lens".
Me: "I hate you for this when do you want me to drop by?"
Just last week I missed obtaining an 8x10 Kienzle which belonged to a famous French photographer. As I understand it, it was being given away (honest). But it went instead to another sucker. Whew! That was close. Anyway, I dont have anymore space in the kitchen for that! (...though, on second thought, with a high enough wattage lamp, perhaps I could've bake cookies in it).
But seriously, since I see a lot of young people walking around with film cameras at the moment (OK.. sometimes just as a fashion accessory!) I was thinking recently that it'd be a good idea to teach darkroom printing and —at the end of the course— include a small enlarger in the (low) price, as well as free follow-up advice. This would be to encourage these younger photographers to continue developing and printing at home...and maybe in a small way help preserve our craft and pass the torch along (as well as contribute to keeping film alive!).
Just an idea, for the moment ... Otherwise, it'll soon be "Swap Meet Heeere I come!" (cause I ain't got time for flea-bay).
Christopher