{"id":304707,"date":"2025-07-30T19:43:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-30T19:43:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/304707\/"},"modified":"2025-07-30T19:43:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T19:43:12","slug":"vintage-photography-enthusiast-testing-seaweed-as-film-developer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/304707\/","title":{"rendered":"Vintage photography enthusiast testing seaweed as film developer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Smith out collecting seaweed. Photo: Tanya Riley<\/p>\n

IF YOU have ever seen a man in wellies harvesting fresh seaweed from beaches in Lerwick and Burra recently and wondered what was going on \u2013 things are set to become a bit clearer.<\/b><\/p>\n

Vintage photography enthusiast Chris Smith has been collecting pieces of Shetland seaweed to test using it as a way of developing film.<\/p>\n

As some of the test black and white photos of the centre of Lerwick in this article show, the results can be quite striking.<\/p>\n

The project \u2013 called Sea What Develops \u2013 has received funding from the Shetland Arts-administered Visual Artist and Craft Maker Awards scheme, while it is also endorsed by the United Nations\u2019 Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development programme.<\/p>\n

A key aim of Smith\u2019s project is to reduce reliance on chemical film developers.<\/p>\n

He is also keen to create a chart of eco-friendly developing techniques which could be used by other photographers.<\/p>\n

Smith, who has held vintage camera workshops for adults and children since moving to Shetland a couple of years ago after gaining an MA in photography at Falmouth University, said developing with seaweed is not a new concept.<\/p>\n

One of Chris Smith\u2019s test photos of Commercial Street in Lerwick.<\/p>\n

But he was keen to build upon this existing knowledge and develop his own practice.<\/p>\n

Smith has collected seaweed from the water at the Sands of Sound and Minn beaches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI only want to take a small amount \u2013 I\u2019d never take more than what I need,\u201d he told Shetland News.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the same time I\u2019ve also got to be mindful as to how I\u2019m harvesting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to damage the seaweed, which would then prevent it from growing. I want to cut it in a way that will promote more growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Smith said he has had to understand how film developers work, and the reactions involved.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got no chemistry background \u2013 I\u2019ve just got a photographic background,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFilm developing has all been self-taught using whatever resource I could find.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Smith added that commercial developers\u2019 instructions \u201ctells you how to do it, but it doesn\u2019t tell you how everything works with each other\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first part of the process was to understand that side of it, and understand what it is within plant-based developers that works with the film.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said plant-based developers, in particular seaweed, contains a lot of phenols.<\/p>\n

These phenols help to convert silver halides in the film emulsion \u2013 once exposed to light \u2013 into metallic silver, which creates the black and white image.<\/p>\n

Smith explained that seaweed is \u201conly one ingredient\u201d in the process.<\/p>\n

He has been adding sodium carbonate to adjust the PH of the solution, and ascorbic acid \u2013 essentially vitamin C \u2013 to accelerate the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough I\u2019m into slow photography, and I enjoy the slowness of the process, I think developing a film for a couple of hours is a little bit excessive when it comes to slowness.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy adding that ascorbic acid in it helps to speed it up.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the moment the time taken to develop film with seaweed has ranged from between 26 minutes to around one hour.<\/p>\n

Smith said one result could be a developing chart which would give information on how long this type of developing takes, for different kinds of film and seaweed.<\/p>\n

He has been using fresh seaweed for now but aims to test out what \u201cstorm washed\u201d seaweed is like for developing in the future.<\/p>\n

Another photo taken by Chris Smith in Lerwick which was developed using seaweed.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s journey with analogue photography stems back to when he was in his late teens and had his first darkroom experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cI absolutely loved it,\u201d he reflected. \u201cIt was kind of like the hook that really got me into photography.\u201d<\/p>\n

There was a dip in his student years but in 2020 \u2013 after the Covid pandemic hit \u2013 he bought some film cameras online and rediscovered the joy.<\/p>\n

Smith said it was the \u201cthrill of the shooting through the film, the slowing down \u2013 getting to process the films myself\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just took me back to that magic that I felt the first time I had ever done it ten years before,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Seaweed might seem like an unusual developing tool but he already predominantly uses coffee as an eco-friendly alternative.<\/p>\n

But it seems the process of discovery is set to continue for the forward-thinking photographer \u2013 with \u201cso much research\u201d still to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not an expert by any stretch of the imagination in any of the alternative processes, but that\u2019s because there\u2019s so much to learn,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be learning new stuff about it for decades to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

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