by Val Diggle

Created on: November 18, 2009

A Fragile Heart in the Photographic Darkroom

Embedded in the word 'refugee' is an essential pre-requisite, the profound importance of, and desire for, a meaningful, supportive, refuge. There are all kinds of refugees in our schools and colleges - some are in flight from oppressive regimes overseas, some the victims of abuse at home, some sabotaged by their own bodies genetically, through birth trauma or accident in later life. For all of these students it is possible to create a kind of temporary shelter, a safe haven, through immersion in creative activity.

Crises can occur at any time in the life of a student and, as professional educators, we listen out for them, and because students are often unable to articulate the details of the circumstances that have created their distress, we listen out instead for the shockwaves that emanate from the epicentre of the catastrophe, the negative behaviour, the anger, the withdrawn silence.

Nola was sixteen years old, an elfin faced, slender girl who looked as if breeze would blow her away, but with a sharp-tongued quick wit that her classmates soon came to recognise, and dread, if they were on the receiving end. She dressed habitually in black, with dramatic black rimmed eye-liner and body piercings. Her look was of the moment - heavily influenced by Gothic chic. The blue lips however, were not artifice. Nola was waiting for a heart and lung transplant.

Nola's refuge, her personal safe haven, was the photography studio and photographic darkroom. Our digital world has led to the dismantling of many darkrooms in our schools and colleges, and so, sadly, they are often perceived by people in charge of resources as an anachronistic luxury. In Nola's case, the dim, red safe-lit interior of the darkroom created a kind of confessional space, where she visibly relaxed.

The group of sixteen and seventeen year olds, to which Nola belonged, was part of a bridging to tertiary education cohort, with a variety of special needs. In the broad light of day they were an unruly bunch, developmentally young. A plethora of challenging behaviours made it difficult to engage them as a group in traditional activities designed to support their literacy and numeracy skills. It was like, one colleague remarked, trying to herd cats. In the darkroom however, it was essential to follow a sequence. There was a rhythm, a pattern, embedded in to the process of exposing photographic paper to the light, then watching the miraculous appearance of an

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