Issue 31: March 2001 - Youth Work Ireland

importantly Eileen's Darkroom.We arrived at 1.00pm and after a quick cuppa wewere off to shoot some film. We went to Blennervllleand Fenit where we took photographs of the windmilland boats. Then it was back to the darkroom to startdeveloping.Our first job was to take the film oft its roll and put iton the processing reels. This was much moredifficult than it sounds - we were tired and the task istedious initially. The next step is to process the film.There are three steps involved in processing. Firstly,Developer is used, secondly Stop (which stops thedevelopment process) is used and finally Fix (whichfixes the image on the negative for the future).The film is then washed to remove any traces of thechemical, before it is hung up to dry. Unfortunately,the chemicals were somehow switched and at theend of the process only one of us had images on thenegatives.On Saturday we re-traced our stops to Blennervilleand Fenit, We also went to Killarney and toMuckross House. For one member, one of thehighlights was climbing 'the mountain to ToreWaterfall.Back in the darkroom, once we had some Images onour negatives, we continued to the next stage. Firstlywe made a contact sheet from which we selected anImage that we considered worth printing. This wasprinted to B x 10 size using Develop, Stop and Fixagain. Guided by Eileen, there was somemanipulation of light before we were finally happywith our selected images.The young people were brilliant all weekend. Wespent from Friday morning until Sunday nighttogether. We went out and ate together, where wediscussed a lot of issues, which the lads wereconcerned about. As a result, we built up a high levelof trust with the lads and they felt comfortable raisingsome serious issues with us.ConclusionOur plans now are to establish a darkroom inBallinalsoe and work toward the production of acalendar for 2002. We also have a number of otheryoung men who are asking to he involved. Theproject has had an Impact on the confidence level ofthe young people who took part. They know thatthey are good at something. They have a talent forC. Irish YouthWork Scenephotography and have the confidence in their owntalent to recognise and say when an image theyhave taken is good or bad.This was an expensive project to run but it was worthevery penny. It certainly has been a boost to theyoung peoples -confidence. Hopefully, next Junethey will lead a photography project, and in this wayshare their skills and learn new ones.This project would not have been possible withoutthe financial support of the Arts Council. It alsowould not be possible without the participation of theyoung people. It is they who have made it thesuccess that it is.John Langan is a youth worker with GalwayYouth Federation.For more information, please contact:John LanganGalway Youth Federation7 Francis StreetGalwayTel: (091) 561637Fax: (091) 561737E-mail:reg ion al. resourcecentre@gys.ieFirst printed in the Spring 2001 edition ofln2 magazine, published by the NationalYouth Arts Programme, National YouthCouncil of Ireland.Tel: (01) 4784122E-mail: in2@nyci.iewww.youtharts.ieMarch 2001pRAcTIcEpRAcTIcEpRAcTIcEpRAcTIcEpRAcTIcE