20/20 Festival Photobook Fair, 2024. (Photograph by Liz Jelsomine)

We are excited to celebrate the Halide Project’s 10th Anniversary. Thank you to Liz Sales for sharing the history of this wonderful institution.

A Decade in Focus: The Halide Project Celebrates 10 Years of Analog Photography

By Liz Sales

During ICP Talks: On Channeling Creativity, artist, writer, educator, and curator Nayland Blake stated, “If the current art world does not meet your needs, it’s incumbent on you to make a new one.” This call to action reflects a core principle of artist-run initiatives: when current institutions do not support your work, don’t conform—create the kind of space you’ve been searching for. 

At the heart of The Halide Project is this spirit of self-determination and mutual aid. Based in Philadelphia, Halide is a volunteer-run nonprofit that supports traditional and historic photographic processes. Through affordable darkroom access, public exhibitions, artist talks, and hands-on workshops, Halide has built a welcoming community for analog photographers of all levels. This year marks their 10th anniversary —a decade of collaboration, creative exploration, and artistic expression.

© Dale Rio, Madge, Western Massachusetts, 2023.

The Halide Project was founded in 2015 by photographers Dale Rio and Alex Orgera. They began by mounting pop-up exhibitions at spaces like Gravy Studio and in short-term rentals in the Crane Building. Through these exhibitions and hands-on events, like World Cyanotype Day at Laurel Hill Cemetery, they brought people together, sparked curiosity, and helped grow Philadelphia’s analog photography community. “In the early days, everything was pretty freewheeling,” says founding board member Dale Rio. “We used whatever gallery space we could rent. As our reputation grew and our volunteer board expanded, the project started to feel more sustainable.”  In 2018, The Halide Project found a permanent home in South Kensington—at first, a gallery space, but with plans for more.

The gallery now serves as a home base for year-round exhibitions. The exhibition cycle begins each winter with Living Image, an annual juried show that invites submissions from across the country. “Living Image was originally meant to be a one-time show,” says Rio. “But once we started receiving such incredible work from all over the world, we realized it had the potential to be something more.”

20/20 Festival Photobook Fair, 2024. (Photograph by Liz Jelsomine)

Since 2016, a guest juror—usually a curator, publisher, or editor—has selected the artists featured in Living Image. Each spring, the grand prize winner is invited to take part in a three-person exhibition. For instance, Intertwined: Images of Connection (May 15–June 26, 2022) included twelve diptychs by 2022 Living Image grand prize winner Natalie Obermaier, shown with work by Marc Ohrem LeClef and Maurene Cooper. “Being selected as the Grand Juror’s Prize winner was a thrill,” says Obermaier. “Dale Rio curated a tender exhibition of delicately nuanced sets of diptychs from varying projects, the result of which felt to me like slowly turning the pages of a book of poetry.”

In the summer, The Halide Project often hosts shows highlighting its darkroom members as well as themed group exhibitions. Its fall programming regularly coincides with the citywide 20/20 Photo Festival. First launched in September 2020 by Rio, Katie Tackman (from Gravy Studio), and Beth Dombkowski (from the former Wanderlife Gallery), the 20/20 Photo Festival has since grown into a vibrant network of events featuring exhibitions, demonstrations, artist talks,  and a photobook fair —all free and open to the public. Representatives from the festival emphasize that collaboration is at the core of its mission. They invite galleries to host satellite shows, programming, and events in order to reach more people and build a festival that’s bigger than any single organization.

© Adam Schachner, Beaumont Street Effigy, 2022

While the 20/20 Photo Festival brings people together through in-person events across Philadelphia, Light Talks — a virtual series also launched by Halide in 2020 — makes it possible to connect with photographers around the world. Each month features a guest speaker, often an artist discussing their work or a juror sharing how they made their selections. The talks give emerging artists, educators, and students a chance to go behind the scenes and see how creative and professional decisions are made.

In 2022, The Halide Project opened its community darkroom — a long-standing goal finally realized. Despite Philadelphia’s active arts scene, analog photographers had no publicly accessible space to develop and print their work. Spearheaded by board member CJ Harker, the darkroom build was completed using donated materials and equipment, with the help of other board members and volunteers. Located in the same building as the gallery, the darkroom is available to members for self-directed film processing, black-and-white printing, and historic photographic printing. “I grew up in Coventry, England, and from a young age, I loved taking photos—finding beauty in everyday moments and capturing different people and communities. I studied photography at university in Birmingham, but big life changes, including a move to the U.S., meant I had to step away from it for a while.” says darkroom member Billy Moore, “I discovered The Halide Project, and it reignited my passion for photography and helped me believe in my work again.”

For some, the darkroom offers a return to familiar techniques, for others, it’s their first hands-on experience with analog photography.  A sliding-scale pricing system — with hourly and monthly rates — helps keep the space affordable and welcoming. Lab monitors are on hand to assist with chemistry and equipment. These monitors receive free access to the darkroom in exchange for volunteering their time. “Photography has an enormous amount of barriers to entry, and we’re hoping to lower as many as possible through access to equipment, education, and a community,” says Adam Schachner, the current president of the volunteer board and a key figure in running the darkroom. “So far, folks have been ecstatic to finally have a place to come develop their film, print their negatives, and talk to each other about what they are working through.”

© Laurie Beck Peterson, Afternoon Light, 2023

The new darkroom has also allowed Halide to start offering on-site workshops in hands-on techniques like pinhole photography, gum bichromate, and platinum-palladium printing. Workshops are currently offered at a flat rate, with the cost of chemistry and materials included due to grant support. Instructors are drawn from local universities and arts organizations. When possible, exhibiting artists are invited to teach as well. Laurie Beck Peterson explains, “The Halide Project has been invaluable in allowing artists to continue working in traditional processes. As a teaching artist specializing in historic printmaking, I can share my love and knowledge of alternative processes with others, from newbies to experienced practitioners. It’s great to see my repeat workshop attendees and meet new creatives. Community and access are an important part of making art. The Halide Project is a place to land for analog artists at any stage. And it’s amazing what has developed in this space over the last 10 years because a group of like-minded people wanted to make it happen.”

The next program Halide will launch is the Camera Lending Library, a collection of donated analog cameras available to all darkroom members. The program is rolling out in phases: first to lab monitors, then to members, and finally to non-members. As Adam Schachner explains, “The idea is to remove financial and educational barriers so anyone can learn and experiment —affordably and with guidance from people who know analog equipment well. We want people who have never used a 35mm camera to be able to borrow one, shoot a roll of film, develop it in the darkroom, and make a print. For those who already use 35mm, the library allows them to try out other formats, such as 120, 4×5, or even 8×10.”

Analog photography is not only a medium, but also a mindframe—rooted in attention, patience, and care. These values nurture communities that thrive on mutual support and shared growth. Now celebrating its tenth year, The Halide Project exemplifies this ethos, creating enduring opportunities to experience slow time, communal space, and collaborative creativity. “The Halide Project has become a mainstay in Philadelphia,” says Amanda Tinker, the 2018 grand prize winner of the Living Image exhibition series. “Halide is truly a welcoming place. I look forward to seeing how they will shepherd the next generation of photographers in the work ahead.”

The Halide Project 10th Anniversary Show opens on Friday, July 18th, 2025, 5-8 pm at The Halide Project, 1627 N 2nd St, Philadelphia, PA 19122

www.thehalideproject.org

© Amanda Tinker, Untitled (Winter Wreath), 2020

C.J. Harker building The Halide Project darkroom, 2021. (Photograph by Adam Schachner)

Etinosa Yvonne giving a virtual talk (Photograph by Etinosa Yvonne)

Gum Bichromate taught by Laurie Beck Peterson, 2022. (Photograph by Dale Rio)

Anne Eder’s exhibition “Sanctuary and Abjuration: Sentinels of the Ghostwood,” at The Halide Project, 2023 (Photograph by Liz Sales)

Anne Eder’s exhibition “Sanctuary and Abjuration: Sentinels of the Ghostwood,” at The Halide Project, 2023 (Photograph by Liz Sales)

Anne Eder’s exhibition “Sanctuary and Abjuration: Sentinels of the Ghostwood,” at The Halide Project, 2023 (Photograph by Liz Sales)

Overview of The Halide Project darkroom, 2021. (Photograph by C.J. Harker)

© Natalie Obermaier, Lentini’s Daughter, 2020

Cyanotype prints drying in the sun at Penn Treaty Park during World Cyanotype Day, 2021.

Soil Chromatography taught by Gül Cevikoglu, 2024. (Photograph by Dale Rio)

Wet Plate Collodion taught by Maurene Cooper, 2023. (Photograph by Dale Rio)