In May 2025 we opened applications for our first Artist in Residence programme, offering the successful applicants access to darkroom facilities to further their creative practice. We were inundated with applications, which we eventually whittled down to two; Mary Ngwu and Jimmi Wing Ka Ho. Both worked tirelessly over the Summer, experimenting with new processes, while developing their individual projects.
Both photographers were invited to present their work at LightWorks back in November, where they received glowing praise and constructive feedback from an appreciative audience of darkroom members and guests. The conclusion of this programme was the opportunity to mount an exhibition of a selection of the work they produced during the Residency.
Mary chose to exhibit Little Black Girlhood, three cyanotypes from her personal exploration of Black girlhood. “The unique experience often unfolds within layered realities where tenderness exists alongside premature awareness, joy is shaped by vigilance and ‘becoming’ is informed by both inherited memory and lived experience.”
Jimmi has been visiting the Aylesbury Estate in Southwark since 2024, documenting its final days before demolition and regeneration. His study is less concerned with the architectural legacy of the site, but more the ‘remnants’ concealed beneath the surface. “During the time I documented the site, I kept asking myself a question: how quickly can the memory of a place be erased? Under the rapid redevelopment, the neighbourhood of Elephant and Castle has been reshaped. From the developer's point of view, it is a progression. However, in another way, it wipes away the city’s memory and neglects the small but essential traces of people’s life”.
Using photography as a means to gather source material, Jimmi worked this into a variety of applied 3D forms, as well as traditional photographic prints. Utilising darkroom’s gallery space as well as the darkroom itself, he created an immersive experience that took the viewer on a psycho-architectural journey through the estate.
As part of our ongoing commitment to building a photographic community and encouraging film-based practice, darkroom is excited to announce that we will be running a 2026 Artist in Residence programme over the summer. You can apply through the Curator Space website here >>>