New Co-op Darkroom in Montréal for 2009

jordanstarr said:

Makes me wish I still lived in Ottawa.

I think some Ontario folks in the Ottawa region would love to know this too as the only darkroom rental place on Bank St. closed a few years ago and reopened under a new owner who charged (I think) $30/hr for the use of the place and basically told me that they're charging such high rates because it's not worth it otherwise and they'll shut it down if people don't pay that much. I'm assuming it's long gone now at that rate.

Click to expand...

Michel Hardy-Vallée said:

Dead Link Removed

Two Sundays ago I was at the local camera gear sale exchange, and while perusing the tables of junk and slightly less junk, I met two kind folks manning the table of the soon-to-open darkroom-cum-studio space of Photo Coop Montréal.

I chatted with Louis-Philippe Sarrazin, who is president of their Board, and he outlined the concept: in a location of the Old Montreal, there will be a full Black and White darkroom, a full Colour (C-41 and RA-4) darkroom, as well as two studio spaces with plenty of natural light, and a few computer stations for the occasional hybrid work.

Perks include: a dry to dry RA-4 wall-mounted processor, a drymounting station, full stainless steel B&W working area, workshops, studio equipment, and so on.

This is something very exciting for Montréal, because it will be the return of the darkroom equipment that belonged to the Saidye Bronfman Center for the Arts, which closed recently. I used to print my photos at the Saidye for a while because it was the only easily accessible public darkroom in Montréal (up yours, UdeM, with your complicated registration schedule!).

After the Saidye closed, I invested in some home darkroom equipment, and duly printed home, but now that I'm working almost full time, my sessions are more occasional than they used to be, because of prep and cleaning time.

This is also something very exciting for the world at large, because it is yet another proof of the viability of analog photography. Photo stores in Montréal tend to be cynical about film (I used to work in one for a short stint), but whenever I show my slides to the younger employees, they are the ones most eager to get dirty with film.

The photo Co-Op should open somewhere in 2009; right now the site is under construction, so you can imagine the imponderables these fine folks are facing. I wish them the best, and will report here on their progress.

Click to expand...

Peter Stockland said:

Just a word of warning - our experience with these folks has been far from kind or encouraging. Exactly the opposite. We were with them at the very beginning, and put $1,500 for 3 family members into the venture. At the time, we were told the COOP would be up and running within six months, and that if for any reason we wanted to withdraw, we could do so with a full refund. We waited and waited and when nothing at all seemed to be happening, we asked for a refund and cancellation of our memberships. They cancelled our memberships, all right, but basically told us to get lost as far as getting any money back. We were told that legally they were under no obligation to return our money, and would do so only when the COOP was financially stable. That was 15 months ago, and we haven't heard a peep since about getting a penny back. A while back, one family member approached them about at least reinstating our memberships so we could get some use of the facility. Louis-Phillipe Sarrazin said he would have to consult the board. We've heard nothing from them since. I'm not accusing them of anything criminal or fraudulent or malevolent. I think like a lot of volunteer organizations, they're probably just disorganized. But if you're at all thinking about getting involved with them, make sure you can kiss your contribution good-bye if things don't work out. What looks promising ain't always so.

Click to expand...

Remboursement.

44. Sous réserve des conditions prévues à l'article 38, la coopérative peut, si un membre lui en fait la demande, lui rembourser, aux conditions prévues par règlement, les sommes qu'il a payées sur ses parts sociales autres que celles de qualification.

Click to expand...

Interdiction.

38. Une coopérative ne peut rembourser ni racheter une part ni payer un intérêt sur une part, si:

1° elle est insolvable ou le deviendrait par suite de ce remboursement, de ce rachat ou de ce paiement;

2° le conseil d'administration démontre que le remboursement, le rachat ou le paiement est susceptible de porter atteinte à la stabilité financière de la coopérative;

3° en raison du remboursement, du rachat ou du paiement, la coopérative ne pourrait satisfaire à ses engagements auprès des tiers qui lui accordent une aide financière.

Click to expand...

sinnlicht said:

"Une insitution dans le monde professionnel du développement de film et de l'impression photo fermera ses portes vendredi prochain. DAFO ÉCLAIR tire la plug, après plus de 30 ans de loyaux services. Ce commerce fût longtemps prisé par les photographes professionnels, surtout pour le développement E6 (le meilleur en ville selon plusieurs) et les tirages sur papier archive.
Depuis plusieurs années, plusieurs labo professionnels se sont fait emporter par le tsunami provoqué par le numérique et la disparition du film argentique et peinent à subsister. La majeure partie de ces labos ne font plus maintenant que de l'impression numérique.
Pour les derniers photographes irréductibles qui travaillent encore avec de la diapo ou du n/b, sachez que le dernier à Montréal à pouvoir développer vos rouleaux sera maintenant Boréalis."

Click to expand...

KWhitmore said:

I don't know if they offer hand processing exactly but two good labs here are Photo Service on 222 Notre Dame and Dafo Eclair on rue de la Commune.

Click to expand...

Krockmitaine said:

The people involved with the project had good intentions and wanted the coop the really succeed but red tape (*cough*City of Montreal*cough*) killed the project.
Marc

Click to expand...