Project page: Secrets in the Dark (for a better experience, please open the link in Google Chrome)

Secrets in the Dark is my final project for Collective Methods distance leaning class at NYU Shanghai while I was studying in Prague. I invited my classmates in NYU Prague into the dark room followed by turning off the light.

Then, I introduced this project to them like what I am writing now. I asked them to share a secret with me and in return, I would share a secret of mine with them.

At the same time, I asked them to come up with an adjective that best described this secret or how they personally felt about the secret. I would then turn the red light (printing photo purpose) back on once we finished sharing our secrets and they already had an adjective in mind.

Under the dim red light, I asked them to write down their adjectives on a sheet of glass within a pre-measured and pre-marked area. I also informed them that they could do anything with this area (draw, write, etc) as long as the adjective was visible. Once the word was written, I placed a piece of light-sensitive matte photo paper under that area.

Once the paper was placed correctly, I asked participants to turn on the enlarger to project whatever they just wrote on the glass onto the light-sensitive paper. (The exposure time, 5 seconds, and contrast, level of 4, of the enlarger has been adjusted by me according to those test strips I have made before the participants come into the darkroom.) Then, I immersed the photo paper into photo paper developer for 60 to 90 seconds, followed by fix for 20 to 30 seconds, then stop for 5 to 10 minutes. Once the photo paper was in the tray of fix, the normal light could be turned on, and the participant could leave.

Then I put the photo paper into running water for 1 minute and used a squeegee to drain the photo paper. The paper then needed to be hung up and wait till it dried up completely.

I, then, scanned those dry photo paper and post them here with those secrets I collected in the dark.

Special thanks to Professor Bara Brazkova and the sweet lady managing the keys in Male namesti 2 Blue Building whom I bothered innumerable times.