Dark Times
By any measure, it is an ungodly amount of work. Wipe down the bathroom. Place planks on bathtub to create work surface. Carefully snake 25-foot extension cord around various obstacles to provide electricity to bathtub area (oh boy). Get into low squat, squeeze fingers under enlarger, tighten core, lift 50 lbs of unbalanced weight to standing position. Walk precariously to bathroom, making sure to avoid hitting top of enlarger on door frames. Carefully squat it down into place on the bathtub work surface. Heave sigh of relief. Position safe light on shower curtain rod. Secure using twisty ties from recent bunches of fresh produce. Position timers. Plug everything in and test.
Measure and mix chemicals. Fill each tray with developer, stop bath, and fixer respectively. Place on floor. Place tongs in the each tray. Fill up another tray with water for washing finished prints.
Place easel, filters, grain focuser, paper etc. for easy access next to the enlarger.
Climb onto the roof via fire escape with yoga mats. Make as many trips as needed to transport sleeping pads, blackout curtain, some cardboard, all types of weights. Place precisely atop skylight, to block off any light into bathroom. Come down, check for light-tightness, adjust as necessary. Fold bathmat and position under bathroom door to block light. Hang towel off doorknob to block light. Shut the door and sit in the dark until eyes adjust and complete darkness is confirmed.
Finally blast music, start printing.
Once a satisfactory number of prints have been made to justify all that effort (at least 6 hours of printing in my experience), fill new tray with permawash. Transfer prints from wash tray to permawash tray. Rinse wash tray, fill with fresh water. Transfer prints into fresh water bath. After about an hour, squeegee each print carefully. Leave aside to dry.
Wait you’re not done - now quickly go back and undo everything so Yakuta can finally shower!
Totally worth it.