In order to begin learning film photography without the pressure of making sure everything is just perfect, we're going to do a secret collaboration project. It's a secret because you won't really know who you're collaborating with until you see your images and in many ways the darkroom is going to reveal a whole lot more than it normally would since everything you make will be quite the surprise.

Here's how it will work:

STEP 1: We'll learn about cameras and film and the darkroom and all sorts of things that you don't have to worry too much about. I'll do the teaching and you do the absorbing. But you'll be the collector of light. So, what you need to do first is bulk roll four rolls of film--each with 20 images on the roll.

STEP 2: Shoot all four rolls of film for a total of around 80 images. When you're shooting, try hard to take photographs of interesting lighting just like you did in your first project for Photography Studio I. Turn up the volume on your skills, though, and pay close attention to getting shots that are both skillful AND intriguing.

STEP 3: Bring your film to class. I'm going to do some magic with the film in the darkroom and make the film ready to shoot for a second time. The images will still be there, but they'll be freshly rolled and loaded so that you could insert them into your camera just like you did the first time. I'll then allow you to choose four new rolls of film from a container.

STEP 4: With your new rolls of film, reshoot images on top of what your secret collaborator has already shot. Again, shooting these with lighting in mind is really, really important since it'll be the light and dark areas that allow so many bizarre things to happen with the film. Where there's a shadow, you'll see your collaborator's image and where there's light you'll block that portion of the image. It should end up being quite fascinating.

STEP 5: Bring those rolls of film to class. From there we'll process the film, make contact sheets, and them make three prints from your mystery collaboration.

Here are some artists who use this idea of shooting images on top of each other (multiple exposures) as a creative practice:

Etinosa Yvo nne Osayimwen

Muhammed Faread

Brandon Kidwell

Andres Gallardo

...and some other random inspiration can be found HERE.

To be successful with this project you'll need to:

Bring your film in both times on time. Each due date will be clearly established and when you simply shoot the 50 images you'll get 25 points just for doing it equalling 50 points.

Process two rolls of film that have visible images on them. If you do not have images on the film and the problem could have been avoided, you'll need to reshoot your images on your own. Getting two successful rolls of film will be another 50 points.

Make two perfectly exposed contact sheets for 40 points.

And make three carefully chosen, perfectly exposed photographs of your choice for the last chunk of 60 points.

As you can see, this project is worth 200 points, so each step is super important.