sustainable darkroom futures residency

Summer 2026 has been an abundance of apocalyptic visions - images of silhouetted firefighters against a backdrop of burning forests, wildlife trapped as smoke engulfs their ruined homes, and once abundant waterways now dried out and barren. Across this haunting gallery, we witness the power of photography in communicating our continued environmental crisis.

But herein the paradox lies - photography, while essential, is beleaguered by its own litany of ecological harms: toxic chemicals, silver waste, plastic pollution, and much more. At the Sustainable Darkroom, we have strived towards ecological responsibility and environmental justice in seeking alternatives to traditional photographic materials and methods. However, as we continue to evolve, we still find ourselves asking - what does a truly sustainable future for photography look like? More than simply using plant-based chemistries, or recycling our darkroom plastics - but on a systemic, transformative level?

With this in mind, we are excited to announce the Sustainable Darkroom Futures Residency, a hybrid online programme culminating in an in-person exhibition and symposium in partnership with the Northern Centre of Photography and the Photography Research Group: Bridging Photographies, Cultures, Communities at the University of Sunderland. We are supported by Arts Council England, using public funding from the National Lottery, and The Grocers’ Charity. Through this open call, we are seeking five individuals to propose research and development projects for innovative, sustainable systems in photography. We encourage applicants to think beyond the established norms in this sector, and to envision radical, unorthodox, even outlandish ideas that look at the bigger picture of photographic systems. This includes not only the material, but the philosophical, the political, legal, structural and beyond.

Research topics may include (but not limited to): darkrooms, commercial photo labs, galleries, universities, waste systems, legal/political frameworks, architecture, civil engineering, AI, digital and analogue technology production.

As we encourage adventurous submissions, you don’t have to create a functioning version of your proposal by the end of the residency - although it is encouraged. Prototypes, blueprints, test images, written papers, and more will suffice - we prioritise imagination and creativity in submissions, allowing for the speculative and conceptual to thrive.

We are NOT seeking submissions on already well-established processes, such as how to make a plant-based developer, or toning cyanotypes with botanicals. However, systemic thinking associated with those topics is allowed. For example:

- Proposal on making developers from garden herbs. NO ❌

- Proposal on setting up a solar-powered system for treating used developer. YES. ✅

The first is already known. The second is a new system that has the potential to enact lasting change for the future of photography.