darkroom
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of darkroom
Explanation
A darkroom is the room a film photographer uses to develop photographs. A typical darkroom is equipped with developing chemicals, an enlarger, and a red-tinted safelight that doesn't expose black-and-white film. There are so many options for photography these days that using a darkroom is less and less common — digital and Polaroid-style, instant photos don't require developing. Most darkrooms are kept by photographers who work with black-and-white film. In the darkroom, the enlarger projects an image from a negative onto photographic paper, which is then immersed in a developer chemical wash and a fixer wash, and hung to dry. This results in a finished product, a photograph.
Vocabulary lists containing darkroom
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Ms. Ditner has a wall text explaining how Smith worked in his darkroom “so that his final print reflected not what the negative recorded but what he had witnessed.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
"There was a darkroom in the vicarage and I saw one of the older boys printing a photograph and I just knew that was going to be my life, really," he explains.
From BBC ● Sep. 7, 2025
He particularly appreciated his crewmate McDiarmid, who liked to play her saxophone in the ship’s theater, right next to his darkroom.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2025
Vintage cameras sit on a shelf, and a cramped darkroom is just off the kitchen.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 28, 2024
When we were finished, Aileen wanted to do some more work in the darkroom, a different photo project for another class, so I was on my own.
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
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