It simply feels right. The whole process is like meditation for me. From the selection of the film, the time I give myself to find the right subject and decide on the settings before I press the shutter, to the manual development in my little darkroom and the excitement when I see the negatives for the first time, even the spot removal after scanning. I love how perfectly imperfect and unpredictable film can be and how it teaches me to embrace those imperfections and “accidents” as part of its unique beauty.

I was acutely aware of how many times strippers had been photographed in a sympathetic way. I wanted to avoid this as I had no interest in who the girls were outside of work or what made them strip. What interested me was the bizarreness of the backstage, the boredom the women often showed and the way it was so like many other jobs.

Sometimes there is that quiet moment just before you fully wake where sounds are hushed and muted, a warm light begins to bleed through the darkness behind your eyelids and your limbs twitch on their own. In that split second of a moment you exist in a different space, a place in between here and there, a place that you just are.

S.R. Robinson is a film photographer based in Joliet, IL, whose meticulous darkroom explorations breathe life into abandoned spaces. Their atmospheric black and white photographs show a deep connection to the unseen history of the places that they portray, while simultaneously allowing this history to blend with the present and possible futures. 

We are excited to announce our biannual publication second issue theme!

THEME: MOTHER

Submissions open until 18 March 9pm (EST)

Sophie Barbasch is a photographer based in New York City. She earned her MFA in photography from the Rhode Island School of Design and her BA in Art and Art History from Brown University. Selected grants and residencies include the Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, the Blue Mountain Center, and a 2016 Fulbright Fellowship to Brazil.