Rachel Brewster set up Little Vintage Photography in 2014. Ten years on, it was time for a new beginning, and new surroundings, so the artist-led dark room and photography studios has moved into Baltic Creative on Jamaica Street.
In 2014, the dark room was a personal retreat, supporting Rachel in the aftermath of grief. It became an essential part of her life, and due to the driven and human nature of the project, an important part of Merseyside’s cultural offer.
It is now utterly essential to a few local photographers who have rediscovered darkroom photography through the spaces Little Vintage has offered over the past decade.
Until recently, Little Vintage was based on Hamilton Square, making the most of very dedicated space, but this move to the Baltic makes the workshop more accessible to photographers in every corner of Merseyside.
Teaching all practical applications of darkroom development and analogue photography since 2014, has led to explorations in her own practice too, which, in turn, creates new workshop opportunities.
After running darkroom workshops and analogue photography workshops across the region, Rachel was keen to encourage artists to use photography in its widest definitions, so now runs everything from film and pinhole workshops to cyanotype sessions out of the Baltic Creative studio
The sessions are designed to be flexible, with events for professional photographers, amateurs, and complete novices, underpinned by constant and ongoing encouragement to see the potential in your work and develop it into a public-facing practice, underscored by the Ultimate Film & Darkroom Workbook, published by Little Vintage Photography as a supplement to the workshops, but which works just as well to support self-driven practice for darkroom members.
If you’re interested in workshops with Little Vintage, from pinhole touring workshops to taught darkroom sessions, check out the website. And, for practicing photographers looking for affordable darkroom membership, it’s well worth getting to know Little Vintage.
Words, Kathryn Wainwright
Find out more about Little Vintage Photography:
Instagram: @littlevintagephotography and @liverpool_darkroom
Etsy: etsy.com/uk/shop/LittleVintagePhotoCo