Tokyo Darkroom Style 5:
Photographer’s Laboratory, Akasaka
Last month I had the opportunity to visit Photographer’s Laboratory, a well respected pro photo lab located in an apartment complex near Akasaka station. Leica Japan and I went with this lab for the 16x20 silver gelatin prints used for the prints now on display in their Sogo Yokohama shop.
On my first visit I took my negs and 11x14 exhibition prints as proofs to Nogizaka station and made my way to the apartment complex- an interesting building built into a hillside and apparently originally funded by a pro-wrestler.
Visitors enter Photographer’s Laboratory by way of a small stairway to heaven- once inside one is immediately greeted by the wonderful aroma of photographic chemistry and photo paper. Soon I was introduced to Toshio Saito, a legendary master darkroom printer, for a brief review of my proof prints and other tonal aspects of the print order that he would be doing. (Interestingly I learned some new Japanese too- One print was a little low-contrast- he said it was “nemui” (眠い), a little “sleepy”. Interesting.)
Once business was completed he gave me a tour of the place- we first passed a professional analog color printer the size of a car- in another room a gigantic Durst enlarger was rigged towards a wall for major enlargments. We then proceeded to the main black and white darkroom which was outfitted with some Lucky and Leitz and Nikon enlargers, as well as all the little hand-fashioned idiosyncratic physical solutions that printers inevitably customize their darkrooms with- rigged up drying racks, sinks, shelving- darkroom style, indeed. Further back another room held their stockpile of rolls of black and white photo paper and a large dry-mount press. From the moment I entered Photographer’s Laboratory I simply couldn’t stop grinning. The fact that my head went a bit woozy was not from all the chemicals but the fact that such a fantastic places till exists.
A week later I returned and Saito-san presented me with seven immaculately created 16x20 Ilford FB prints. While I fancy myself as a pretty good printer of my work the amount of shadow detail he was able to produce was astounding- and quite a learning experience. Getting to ask a bit about his methods and advice was invaluable.
Many sincere thanks to Leica Japan and everyone at Photographer’s Laboratory for making this all come together so well.
Photographer’s Laboratory: Website
A nice video of the place can be seen here.
Previously:
More darkrooms online:
- Large Format Photography Australia: Show us your darkroomseries
- Pippo, a rental darkroom in Tokyo
- Amateur’s Labo, a rental darkroom in Tokyo
- Worldwide Local Darkroom locator powered by Harman