Planting a Darkroom: Summer School Residency in Scotland 2026

Planting a Darkroom: Summer School Residency in Scotland 2026

Join a three-day summer school with the Sustainable Darkroom, taking over the garden at Forgan Arts Centre.


Expect an immersive long weekend programme of campfires, low-toxicity photographic and film-making techniques, situated making, composting chemistries and communal meals.


Integrated in the programme will be time and space for you to refine your knowledge and experiment, with support from artists Hannah Fletcher and Edd Carr from Sustainable Darkroom. 


There will also be lots of opportunities to connect with like-minded practitioners throughout the days and over meals.


The cost of the course includes a cooked vegan lunch, provided daily by a local social enterprise, and evening meals of either soup around the campfire or a short walk to the local pub for food.

Book Here.


Programme

Thurs

3-5pm

Arrivals 


5-6.30pm

Introductions, tour of the grounds and image making.


6.30pm onwards

Reading group around campfire with homemade veggie soup and bread.
+ Preparations for waste based semi-solid developer.




Fri

10-1pm

Film developing workshop using materials from the grounds at Forgan Arts Centre including making an iron-based developer and plant-based developers.


1-2pm

Lunch


2-6pm

Free time to use the darkroom space and facilities at FAC to work on projects with support from Sustainable Darkroom. You could also use this time to develop your own films, following on from the knowledge learnt in the morning workshop. 


EVENING

Optional walk to the local pub for dinner (not covered in ticket price).




Sat

10-1pm

Experimental moving image workshop / animation - collective working - e.g. cyanotype on 16mm. Incorporating natural dyes made from the garden. 


1-2pm

Lunch


2-5pm

Experimental moving image workshop continued with the possibility to work on top of footage with chemigrams and phytograms, as well as splice archival footage for projection. One or two 16mm cameras will also be on hand for people to examine/experiment with.


6.30pm onwards

Screening of collective films made during the day. Shared soup, drinks, campfire and final night celebrations. 




Sun

10.30 - 1pm

Working with the waste workshop: making a semi-solid developer from our campfire ashes. Covering how to work with this developer across a range of photographic materials and surfaces such as chemigrams, positive paper from pinholes, and on film.


1-2pm

Lunch


2-4pm

Waste degradation and composting and deconstruction of the darkroom.


4pm onwards

Departures.



Accommodation


If you are visiting for the summer school, you have the option to camp on the grounds at Forgan Arts Centre, amongst the backdrop of their beautiful gardens and woodlands, or to stay locally. If you are camping on site, you will have access to simple continental breakfast provisions which are included in the £8 per night camping fee. There will be a couple of indoor spaces which are open to both those camping and those staying off-site, to relax, sit on a comfy chair, and have a cup of tea. We have a few recommendations for local accommodation in either Tayport or Dundee, both a short bus ride away.


The Larick Community Campsite, Tayport

The Old Boathouse, Newport-on-Tay

The Garden Rooms, Newport-on-Tay

Four Points Flex Hotel, Dundee

Travel

We ask attendees to use low carbon methods of transport wherever possible and accessible. Forgan Arts Centre can be reached via two bus services: Moffat & Williamson 77 and Stagecoach 99 (which requires a short walk), which can be caught at Dundee, St Andrews and Leuchars. Leuchars and Dundee are the closest train stations, both can be reached through direct trains from London, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Our local coach services include Ember (which can take bikes), Megabus and Citylink. There are road-free and quiet cycle routes from Dundee and nearby villages. We have four parking spaces at Forgan Arts Centre for Blue Badge Holders. Other drivers we ask to park at Waterstone Crook Car Park (a 2 min walk from the centre).


About Forgan Arts Centre

Forgan Arts Centre is a vibrant hub for artistic creation, experimentation, and learning, located on the edge of Newport-on-Tay in North East Fife, and over the River Tay from Dundee.


Their programme includes art and craft classes, workshops, artist-led projects shaped by community needs, as well as artist commissions, residencies, placements, and public events. We host allotments, artist studios, and professional making facilities, along with on-site accommodation for residents in The Gardener’s Cottage.


Through diverse creative practices, Forgan Arts Centre works closely with artists and our communities to explore both personal and shared challenges – those that resonate locally and globally. They offer a space for expression, connection, and exploring our relationship and responsibilities to the natural ecology of which we are part.

Pricing and Booking

£350 general ticket no camping
£374 general ticket with camping and breakfast
£280 student/unwaged ticket
£304 student/unwaged ticket with camping and breakfast

Booking via: https://www.forganartscentre.co.uk/whats-on/planting-a-darkroom/

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