The Dark Room

For 150 years, before digital cameras, photographs relied on light reacting with chemicals. This created varied styles and looks as techniques improved. Perth Art Gallery’s latest permanent display, The Dark Room, showcases these early methods and celebrates the gallery’s diverse photographic collection.

The display highlights the start of photography and Scotland’s role, especially the work of Perth’s David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, who helped establish photography as art. Hill, born near the gallery, used the calotype process, making multiple prints from paper negatives. This was just one of many early techniques, each with its own look, like the daguerreotype.

By displaying enlarged, digital versions of these photos on light boxes in a dark room, the display lets visitors truly see the unique qualities of each process. The show covers a wide range of subjects, from ancient Pompeii to a young ‘Sir’ Alex Ferguson playing football.

The Dark Room explores how everyday photos have changed, with snapshots from 1928-1960 showing precious family moments. The display also examines how we view images differently now. Many young people, like vinyl record fans, are rediscovering the unique charm of film photography.

To demonstrate that film is still relevant, the show includes modern Scottish photographers like Sophie Gerrard, who uses film to document the lives of women working in the traditionally male-dominated world of agriculture.

This dramatic display in the oldest part of Perth Art Gallery, just reopened to the public, uses light boxes and original equipment, with special lighting to mimic a darkroom.

Please note that The Dark Room is accessible via a steep staircase, which may pose challenges for those with mobility issues.

The Dark Room was made possible by a donation from Perthshire Society of Natural Sciences.