Arcanes Labo

Arcanes Labo

Above, are digital contact sheets, made using Bridge. I took this series of photos at 'Arcanes labs photo' in Montpellier. It is a workshop and photographic laboratory. They offer a large range of services such as : Silver development in color and black & white, The purchase if rolls of film, Fine Art prints, Rigid bonding, Digitisation of slides, negatives and photos, - Photo printing from their website on 5 types of paper, Identity photographs and more!

This is the place I go to get my film processed and negatives scanned when I'm in France, They are really professional and I'm always happy with the results. I know that a lot of people go there to also get their film processed too and get big quality prints. This is the reason why I decided to go there to take some photos.

When I got there, I explained my project to the owner of the shop, who was very interested in my project. He told me that the shop was a bit messy that day but that he would tidy it a bit and that I could come back the next day to take some photos of him, his employee but also while they were working.

Taking the Photos :

As mentioned before, I went back the next day to take some photos. The owner was very nice and even gave me advice on how to take portraits of people : tell them how to pose, how to talk to them so they don't get uncomfortable... It was very interesting.

I took a few portraits of him first. You can see these portraits above (the first 3 photos).

The strongest portrait of him is, for me, the one below. This is a non-edited version of the photo.

The composition is good : he is in the middle of the frame, you can his apron so the viewer understands he is probably at work and the rolls of films behind him is another clue. The viewer know knows that he sells film and process them, that is why he is wearing an apron, to protect is clothes from the chemicals. 

The rolls of film are slightly going out of focus too, the further away they are, which really helps to focus on the main subject here. 

I am a bit disappointed I cut his hand as I think they were also important to see, specially with this type of framing : from the waist - up. 

The rest of these images were taken while they were working. The owner was in the middle of making a big print for a client. He explained me how it worked, which was very interesting. I took photos of him during that process.