ABOUT

I was born in 1957, a twin, on a council estate in Dartford, Kent. My parents were part of the post-war generation: optimistic, progressive, and keen to encourage exploration and creativity in their children.

 

From an early age, I was surrounded by art. My father, full of artistic talents, nurtured my creative spark through drawing, painting, and sculpture. But it was my uncle’s passion for photography that also fascinated me. Watching him work in his darkroom and seeing images emerge under the glow of a red lamp, it felt like magic, and I wanted it for myself.

 

At twelve, I was gifted my first camera: a Russian Cosmos 35mm rangefinder. Black & White film became my world, both for its raw aesthetics and because it was all I could afford to use. I learned to process film and print in my makeshift cupboard darkrooms around the house. By sixteen, I had my first SLR camera, a Zenit, and discovered the world of colour transparency, followed by the inevitable family slide shows.

 

In 1973, I began studying Three-Dimensional Design at college. While I spent most of my time in the design studios, I was drawn again and again to the college darkrooms, where I could print on a scale far beyond what was possible at home. It was there my passion for the photographic printed image truly took hold.

 

Though my career led me into Design and Architecture, photography remained a constant, always present, always personal. Over time, I realised it wasn’t just a hobby, but a fundamental part of my creative identity.

 

When the Digital Revolution arrived, I was cautious but curious. I waited for the technology to mature, wanting digital images to match the quality of traditional prints. That moment came with the affordable availability of high resolution cameras. With a digital darkroom now on my computer and my design skills in hand, I found a new way to craft images with the care and attention I'd once given to my chemical photographic prints.

 

Today, I work with the Hasselblad medium-format digital system, a world away from where I start some 55 years ago, but still occasionally return to film for nostalgia’s sake. Photography remains, for me, a way of seeing, of discovering stories in still moments. Though the tools have changed, the magic I first felt in that red-lit cupboard darkroom is still very much alive.

 

Chris Page