Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Davis.
Hi Chris, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
As a professional advertising and fine art photographer, I moved to Dallas in 2020 and struggled find a photo lab to work with that treated my film as if it was their own. For the first few years I sent my film out to labs I had relationships with from my days in NYC. In the summer of 2022, I heard that the then owner of Lone Star Darkroom was looking to move on, and ended up taking over from her. From day 1, I made it my mission to offer high end professional quality film developing, scanning, and ink jet printing. It’s taken us a few years, but we’re proud to be the only lab in North Texas, and one of the few outside NYC and LA to offer dip & dunk film processing, along with high quality scanning and printing services. At Prisma our primary focus is on quality and doing things the right way, even when it takes longer!
I studied photography at Parsons School of Design, and then worked for a number of well known photographers in New York City including Hiro and James Nachtwey. As Nachtwey’s studio manager, I oversaw the production of his commercial and editorial work along with printing of fine art shows. As a lab, all of us at Prisma have been working hard to bring that exacting, high level of production to Dallas.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
At Prisma, our growth has been incredible, but we’ve obviously had a number of challenges along the way. The top 2 hardest were locating a suitable space, and sourcing a dip & dunk processor. Right when I took over, we were informed that the building had sold and the month to month lease was not going to be renewed. We moved to West Dallas for what should have been a few months, but ended up being a year! Finding a new space, build out and working with the city took so much extra time than expected.
When I took over, I made it my mission to bring dip & dunk developing back to Dallas. As more and more photographers have been going back to film, the one thing that hasn’t kept pace is the lab infrastructure. Most labs use processors that were originally designed for speed, not quality so finding a dip & dunk processor was incredibly challenging. After about 8 months of looking, we located one and had it completely overhauled and rebuilt.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We are Prisma Film Lab and Prisma Editions
The film lab specializes in pro quality film developing and scanning. Prisma Editions is our print and drum scan side. We make darkroom and ink jet prints for art shows, displays and all sorts of other uses. We focus on the relationship between the printer and client – with the intention of helping to clarify the work and add when we can. We view the job of a printer as a type of editor that can really help pull a project together, and we offer advice when called for. I absolutely love all things visual communication – especially the relationship between work that is being produced and works already in the cannon of photography!
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
In terms of work, we have binders and bookshelves filled with technical publications that haven’t been published in years. While developing film is a science, it’s an inexact science and there is a bit of mystery/ art involved. Having all these old resources is key when we run into obscure issues or old film!
In terms of personal, I’m constantly reading about art, psychology, spirituality, and philosophy. I love photo books – we sponsor Lone Star Film Club and there is a photo book meetup every month.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://prismafilmlab.com
- Instagram: prismafilmlab, lonestarfilmclub, prismaeditions
Image Credits
Black and White – Clay O’Leary
Color – Mike Ferreira
