Main Darkroom
The gang darkroom is used by beginning and intermediate students. There are fifteen stations each equipped with a Beseler 23CIII-XL enlarger with Variable Contrast head, El Nikkor 50mml lens, Kearsarge 201 digital timer, MicroSight grain focusing magnifier, and Beseler or Saunders four-blade 11x14 easel. A light-tight drawer is built into each station. There are two print washers: a Leedal 1114 Sea-Wave and a Cachet 16x20 archival print washer. Print drying is done with an Arkay RC2100 for resin-coated paper, or a stack of framed screens for fiber-base. Other accessories in the darkroom include two compressed air stations and contact printing frames. The lab's working illumination is by two Thomas Duplex safelights.
Film Developing Room
Within the film developing room are two small light-tight rooms for loading developing tanks. Temperatures are read off a Dunwright & Vogel digital thermometer. Film is washed in an Oriental Ecowasher and dried in an Arkay MFD-1 dryer, with filtered, heated air. Developing tanks and chemicals are supplied. This room also has an area dedicated to toning processes.
Lecture/ Demo Room
This space is used for wet and dry demonstrations, lectures, viewing VHS tapes and slides; there is also an InFocus data projector and an overhead projector available. One wall is a tack surface with shelves for critiques; this wall is lit by rheostat controlled incandescent track lights. There are built-in window shades for darkening the room as needed.
Print Mounting
There are two areas dedicated to print mounting and matting. There are Seal dry mount presses, tacking irons, print weights, Alto EZ mat cutters, and a Rotatrim 36 inch cutter.
Lighting Studio
Hot lights include Lowel Tota-Lights and Omni-Lights. Strobes are Paul Bruff Ultra 1200 White Lightning units and Bruff WL 10,000 strobes. A variety of supports, camera tripods, and stands are available, including a Red Wing light boom. Other items: a Photoflex LiteDome 293 soft box, various barn doors and honeycomb grids, Lobo arms, snoot, and umbrellas. Seamless backgrounds are supported on a Bogen Autopole system and there is also a Photek portable background system. Minolta Autometer III and Polaris flashmeters are available.
Advanced Darkroom
Art majors with a photo concentration have access to their own darkroom equipped with three Beseler 45 enlargers (with negative holders and lenses for small, medium, and large format negatives). An archival print washer is available. Authorized students have 24/7 access to this space.
Digital Imaging Room
In addition to the Digital Imaging Lab in another part of the art building, to which photo students have access upon authorization, the photo area has its own digital photo lab. Currently the lab is equipped with Mac G5s and iMac stations. Peripheral devices include Epson flatbed scanners, a Nikon film scanner and Epson r2800, 4000 and 7800 inkjet printers. All computers have T1 ethernet connections.
Graduate Darkroom
On the fifth floor there is a large shared studio space for two graduates. In this space is a seating area, wall space and a movable tack-wall for viewing works-in-progress. There are two private darkrooms, each with a Beseler 45 system enlarger, stainless steel sink with temperature control, safelight, and requisite accessories (trays, timers, compressed air, etc.).