Research into photographic equipment
A darkroom is an enclosed space that can be made completely pitch black to allow the processing of light sensitive photographic materials including photographic film and paper. Darkrooms have been used since the early 19th century, here is a picture of a portable dark room that was used in those times.
There is various equipment needed for a working dark room, an enlarger, an optical apparatus similar to a projector, that can project the image of a negative onto a base for you to see and adjust, this also finely controls the focus, intensity and duration of light. A safelight is commonly used to illuminate the work area without exposing the photographic paper to light. The majority of black-and-white papers are sensitive to only blue and green light, therefore a red- or amber-coloured light can be safely used without exposing the paper. A timer can be used to adjust the time the paper is exposed to the light, this will be clear after doing a test film.
Not only is a dark room used for processing photographs but also to load film in and out of cameras or film holders, which requires complete darkness. Alternatively, a photographer can use a changing bag, which is a small bag with sleeved arm holes specially designed to be completely light proof and used to prepare film prior to exposure or developing.
Above shows what a darkroom may look like...
