The digital photograph is taking over and, paired with photo-editing app software, now ‘anyone can be a photographer’ with the right filter. Our digital photos are at risk of being lost forever due to the threat of ‘bit-rot’ which could corrupt all of our digital files.
Dark Room is a creative challenge designed to push creative boundaries and encourage those who take part to explore and get to know their city in a new way, as well as gain a new respect for the printed photograph.
Anyone who signs up to take part will be sent a disposable camera with just ten exposures on the film, and a pack of ten creative challenge cards to respond to. This means they only have one chance to respond to each brief, so each photograph must be carefully considered.
The culmination of the project will be in an exhibition, where everyone who took part will see their photos printed for the first time in classic 6x4 glossy photo format. These will then be sent back to them to keep after the exhibition.
The project will run across most cities in the UK, and because each city is unique and has its own meaning to those who live in it, each city has its own identity for the project. I have applied the concept from the brand mark to the individual city icons to make them more intriguing and in line with the rest of the branding. Choosing key landmarks from each city and presenting them in this refracted way is another aspect that will appeal to my target audience.
After sign-up closes, everyone taking part will receive a box in the post. This will be luxurious and premium in execution, with the brushed metal effect sleeve with cut-out logo printed on premium thick card stock, and the inside of the box lined with velvet and embossed with the Dark Room logo. The box contains a pack of 10 challenge cards and a disposable camera with 10 exposures on the film, as well as information and tips on completing the challenges, and a flat-pack box to build in order to send the camera to be developed for free. By making the box a premium item that is visually appealing and sophisticated, means that my target audience may be compelled to photograph the box itself to share on social media to promote the project.
The 10 challenges set are deliberately broad, incorporating only two words to respond to as a creative brief. By applying the ‘developing’ concept to the numbers on the cards, and including the chemical symbol icons, the cards become an extension of the brand. The challenge cards will have the identity for the city they relate to printed on the box for a touch of personality.
Once the exhibition day arrives, all of the people who took part in the challenges, as well as those who are interested in seeing the creative outcomes, will gather to see the photos printed in 6x4 format for the first time. At the end of the event, everyone who attends regardless of participation will receive a premium ‘challenge bag’ containing 12 envelopes- one for each month until the next annual event. They can choose to respond to these on social media, or print their own response and return it in the envelope after attaching the included freepost label.
The exhibition will be open for one week, after which time everyone who took part will receive their own photos in a luxury branded box to keep forever and examine more closely. Allowing them to feel their photos printed out, and display them as they wish, might evoke some nostalgia and encourage those who participated to print more photos in the future.
