Nowadays it takes some minutes to print photos, it is not a problem, but previously pictures development was a laborious occupation. Today we’ll the whole printing process of the USSR times.
Take a photographic enlarger.
Get all constituents.
And assemble them.
All details are so old, it is a miracle that they still work.
Put a picture.
If an old lamp stops burning, civilize it with a modern light.
Looks good, let’s see how it works.
Unfortunately it didn’t help and the light is still dim. Experiment again. Maybe an electric torch with a reflector will do?
The result is perfect, but it is very uncomfortable to hold it all the time.
It is time to put a film. Choose the necessery frame ( photoshop didn’t exist that time) and put a small frosted piece of glass in a special pocket under the film.
A decayed sealant may be replaced by glamorous pink tissues.
Guess what is this.
After disassambling.
Civilization is our everything!
It is a lamp! And not simple: there are 3 working modes. №1.
№2.
№3.
So now we have the light and can return to photos. Moreover our photographic paper is practically new.
The place for a young photographer is in a bathroom, of course.
Containers with a developer and a fixer.
The work with photographic paper and films is possible only by red light.
Thread the film, put a piece of red glass opposite the lens of the photographic enlarger, switch it on and choose a position of the paper.
The most important moment. Put the glass away and count to 10.
Put a lid on the lens, take the paper and the developer.
A picture appeared. Wait for its definition. It is important not to overexpose, or the picture would be too dark. Now to the fixer.
Wait again for a little, then rinse the picture in water and hang to dry.
While water trickles down from the photo, use a glazing machine.
Assemble it.
Put the photo on the glass and flat it with a roller.
Return the glass to its place, cover it with a rag, switch on the device and go to take coffee. Come back and see that the photo is ready.
I still have one of those! Though my is in better shape.
The resulting picture will be greyish. 20+ yrs old photopaper would require very special developer to work properly.
you miss the last picture with the results of all that work!
Neat post. Never seen a safelight like that, where you change from red to normal, that’s pretty cool. That guy should buy a timer, one should not have to count to 10.
my dad used to have one of these!!
There are a number of people who probably aren’t familiar with all of this. It’s funny to see how things used to be done, so much has changed. Thank you for taking the time and sharing it all.
i had the full set when i was 12, made a lots of black and white photos with it. After a while i bought a colour Krokus. This blog post brings back so many good memories!!
Also I have an Opemus Agfa photo laboratory , remained from my old one. In my childhood I’ve spent a lot of nights developing photos with my father.
@TDI: I had exactly the same labeled magnifier – Krokus 69S, with a very sophisticated colour light head. It was based on the set of three filters: cyan, magenta and yellow. What is funny is the fact, that I bought this head separately: had spotted it on display of… small shop for gardeners. Strange – but last years of the Communist Poland were strange… Of course I developed mainly b-w photos, taken by the Zenit 12 XP SLR, very good analog camera