Developing a darkroom
Let’s chat about how this project came to be.
In January of 2025 I started working at our beloved Flagstaff Camera as a custom picture framer, camera sales specialist, and darkroom technician. Right away I realized that the customer interactions that were most exciting to me were not necessarily always with seasoned photographers (don’t worry y’all I still love you) but rather with folks who were legitimately intimidated by picking up a camera.
Whether it had been because along the way, someone else told them it was “too hard”, or they had tried and failed, or even never tried at all…I had seen a bit of myself in every interactioin.
Let me rewind a little here. I don’t have a photo degree. I do however have 10 years of freelance and industry experience. (I am 24 writing this now so..you can do the math hahahah.) But I have been lucky enough to learn from several mentors over the years and I would like to name them here briefly because I am so overwhelmingly grateful to each of them.
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To Nicholas Gratzl, my high school photography teacher, who helped me lay my foundation:
Thank you for fostering a safe space for your students to ask questions and be curious. Thank you for pushing us to submit to photo competitions, learn real critique, and make our work physically and not just digitally.
Thank you for helping my mother pick out my first camera.
To David Emmitt Adams and Claire Warden at COMO Artspace,
Thank you both for your devotion to public education; for being so willing to spend your time guiding others on their photographic journey. Thank you for teaching processes that others gatekeep. Thank you for sharing the “abundance mindset” and continuing to be a resource for both myself and the community.
Finally, I could not have done any of this without the steadfast Taylor Mahoney.
Thank you, Taylor, for being a refuge for the local art kids. There something poetic about the way that they flock to your office to look at your records, CDs, cameras, and lava lamp. Thank you for being the anomaly in the photo industry by embodying approachability- for running the camera store in a way that emulates you in the best way possible. Thank you for being the boss you are, and for helping me grow as both an employee and an artist.
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So, with that, I’ll continue on to say that each of these people have helped me immensely by not judging me when I was first learning. Challenge me, sure, but they never made me feel bad for being new to the game.
A seemingly hard pill to swallow in the photo industry- we all start out as beginners. Somewhere along the way though, ego creeps in and all too often we become disconnected from what it feels like to be that person. (Dare I say some may benefit from once again approaching their art this way?)
Needless to say, I absolutely adore watching others get excited about photography and helping break down walls for those who are willing to join me in picking up a camera with a childlike curiosity.
And so, Flagstaff Film Collective came to fruition.
Our friends at Flagstaff Camera offer amazing 1:1 film classes, but because our darkroom at the store is frequently in use for client print work, it has not yet been able to be utilized for regular group classes. After brainstorming with Taylor a bit- it became abundantly clear that the community had a niche to fill in the realm of group classes and events. But building a community darkroom is oh so costly!
Enter the Coconino Co-op Makerspace.
After a few months of weighing options for a new space, I had a pivotal cup of coffee with my friend Mike Farrell. Mike had been teaching an Intro to Film class at our local makerspace, and I was absolutely stoked to hear this. He suggested that I reach out to Cali Spitson, the Director of Ops at the COCO-OP. (Hey Mike, you rock.)
If one doesn’t have experience with the Co-op makerspace, I am happy to clarify what they have to offer. Essentially, it is a (magical!) place where a person can pay a monthly membership ($60.00) and get access to: a wood shop, sewing, pottery, digital fabrication, electronics, stained glass, and welding (just to name a few) along with a plethora of classes and workshops.
When I had previously envisioned what this darkroom would look like logistically I pictured a mutualistic “ecosystem” between the community and several local businesses. Naturally, the concept of a darkroom fit perfectly with the ecology of the COCO-OP.
Before I knew it, Cali and I were having meetings regularly and working hard to get this dream approved by the board. On January 30th of 2026, the board allocated a space for us to pursue our vision.
It has been such a pleasure partnering with the COCO-OP and Flagstaff Camera to make this happen.
We most certainly would not be doing what we are doing without the support of the community- thank you guys.
As we continue to prepare this space for the public, you can follow along here for my in-depth updates and thoughts on the whole process.
-Atria
