© Ian Berry – Jubilee

Robin Bell, master printer, life in the dark

Robin Bell has lived most of his career, if not in the pitch dark at least in an eerie half light. Although not eerie or weird to him; it is part and parcel of his career – and a very successful career he has carved out of that darkness. He is a master printer of black and white analogue images for most of the top twentieth century photographers. Lauris Morgan-Griffiths spoke to him about his forthcoming exhibition at Lucy Bell’s Gallery to celebrate fifty years in the dark room.

Robin started off as a photographer, working as an assistant, back when photographers had dark rooms and part of the assistant’s job would be to process the films after a shoot. At that time “photographers were all-round, non specialist good guys,” turning their hands to anything from portraits, photojournalism and fashion to still lives, and Robin didn’t feel comfortable booking models and directing them, so as photography got busy in the ‘70s and ‘80s, and processing labs opened up, Robin retreated to the dark room where he perfected his skill.

I saw an exhibition at the Riflemakers Gallery, Soho, in 2011 where photographer Richard Nicholson documented London’s professional darkrooms. When he started the project there were more than 200 to choose from; four years on, only five remained in business. Round that time I also remember going into Joe’s Basement,, one of many processors, to collect some processed film and contact sheets; there were builders in there, so I naively asked, “Are you refurbing the place?” “No love,” came the reply, “we’re closing down”.

© Kevin Cummins Miner After A Shift

Such was the result of the digital tsunami. It was so sudden that no-one saw it coming. It caused the end of well known businesses, processors that had served so many photographers. They were all so busy, they were open twenty four hours a day – films would arrive one day, negatives and contact sheets oven ready the next morning. As well as printing their images, the processors acted as social and networking hubs to photographers.

Master printer

So what makes Robin Bell such a distinguished master printer? For someone who is so acknowledged as top of his profession, he is refreshingly modest, his answer is simple: “I’ve been doing it a long time”. He refused to embrace digital at all, whereas most dark rooms have made an accommodation with digital. I suspect he thinks that would be a pact with the devil.

Robin prefers to work with chemicals, seeing the depth of images that come from the old-fashioned photographic processes. The process has remained the same, his only concession to working with chemicals is to wear disposable vinyl gloves to mitigate the effects of the developers and fixers. As he says “I am stubbornly analogue. Silver has depth, almost a third dimension, proven archival properties, and the prints are, by their nature, almost unique events.”

Also, he admits he has never been good with technology; he still does not really know why or how the printing process works, he just knows how to make the best prints from even a far from perfect negative.

© Bill Brandt – Lambeth Walk

Fifty years in the dark

I ask him if he was always a solitary person, beavering – or perhaps mole-ering – away in the dark. He counters this with the fact that the only process really carried out in the pitch black is winding the film onto a spool to develop it; a process he does not enjoy. The film is ruined if it encounters even a crack of light. Otherwise it is more like twilight, and his eyes are so adapted to the half light that he does not see it as dark.

And no, he has not always been solitary; in the 70s and 80s he was quite a party animal, but now he is 75, and since lockdown, his party shoes have definitely been stowed away.

Is it a collaborative process?

“Not as much as it used to be.” He explains that, back in the day, photographers knew how to process their work, very few studios would not have dark rooms, but now they don’t, so they leave it to the professionals. Any disagreements? Rarely. They trust Robin to get the best result from their work – even rescue it at times.

Has he ever turned down a photographer because he didn’t rate his work? An emphatic no. He says he is uncritical; his job is to make the most of what he has in front of him. However, he might help in the editing process by suggesting another image might be more appropriate.

Having printed for the photography maestros, has he ever fallen out with any of them? He has printed for the biggest names in the photography world: Bailey, Donovan, Snowdon, Norman Parkinson, Clive Arrowsmith, Avedon, Bill Brandt, Eve Arnold, Terry O’Neill, Lee Miller’s archive.  He has never fallen out with the photographers as such, but he did stop printing for Bailey due to his agency staff who were arrogant and living the 80s life style. But never with Bailey, who would hand him his films and say, with his dry humour, ‘Don’t give me any surprises!’

Magic of the printing process 

I ask whether he still finds the printing process magical, the time when the image gradually reveals itself in the chemicals. “Not so much now. I see it more through my daughter’s eyes as she sees this wonderful thing emerging, something which, I suppose, I take for granted.”

Robin Bell’s Silver Footprint II (Part I celebrated his first 35 years in the darkroom) is of more recent work. He hopes people will come to the exhibition which includes images from Tom Stoddart, David E Scherman – an American photojournalist who teamed up with Lee Miller in the Second World War and features in the recent film about her – Lee, Ian Berry, Brian Aris, Ken Russell, James Ravilious, Kevin Cummins, Roger Chapman, Martyn Colbeck, Bill Brandt, Ernst Haas, and other less well-known names who have covered a variety of  interesting subjects producing vivid, extraordinary images.

And, of course,  it would be gratifying if people bought prints of which he is, understandably, proud; unique prints that will last for ever.

Silver Footprint II: Celebrating 50 years of darkroom printing by Robin Bell is at Lucy Bell Gallery, 46 Norman Road, St Leonards-on-Sea, TN38 0EJ from 28 Sept to 8 Nov 2024.

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