Ethics of developing nsfw film and possible recommendations

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wplusl

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Hello everyone

I signed up to ask this question because I've not found any other discussion on it or answer elsewhere. I hope it's not considered unsuitable for this forum and if it is then please just delete it and/or me.

My partner and enjoy taking nsfw pictures, from artful nudes to fairly graphic stuff, and run a small blog where we share them. Up until now we've only ever shot on digital but we're interested in exploring film. However we're worried about getting it developed. Not out of any fear of awkwardness but rather the ethics of it. We feel that bringing a third party into a sexual space without their consent is pretty despicable and basically low-level sexual assault. Forcing an unsuspecting developer to see graphic sexual content is akin to flashing someone on the street and obviously that's a dreadful thing to do to someone. We can never know an individuals relation to sex and how they might react from seeing our pictures. It could just cause amusement, arousal or mild irritation but it could also be deeply triggering or traumatic to some people and we would never want to put anyone through something like that.

So we're keen to hear people's thoughts and experiences on the topic of developing this kind of film and, if possible, any recommendations for places that either specialise in or state outright that they are accepting of nsfw stuff. We're in the Uk.

Thanks very much
 
Not wanting to answer a question you didn't ask, but - developing your own isn't as hard as you might think. B&W is easy, colour only marginally more difficult by all accounts. I'd imagine that even if you found a processor that was happy to develop graphic stuff, you might find yourself self-censoring on film just in case. Developing at home would solve that issue (it's also fun).
 
Hmm, I was under the impression that colour was pretty hard to develop on your own. Perhaps I was wrong about that. I did once develop some b&w film with someone but it was years ago. We're on a bit of a budget though and would have to get all the gear needed, not to mention a decent scanner. It's maybe something to try in the long term though.
 
In days gone by there used to be small ads in the back pages of Amateur Photographer that offered 'discrete' services, I don't imagine there's much call for them since the arrival of digital. As the others have said above I'd have a look at processing your own.
 
wplusl said:
Hmm, I was under the impression that colour was pretty hard to develop on your own. Perhaps I was wrong about that. I did once develop some b&w film with someone but it was years ago. We're on a bit of a budget though and would have to get all the gear needed, not to mention a decent scanner. It's maybe something to try in the long term though.
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I've never actually done colour myself, either, but plenty of people on here have, and the consensus seems to be "Well, that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be". Basically just a matter of buying a kit, and keeping your chemicals at the right temperature for 15 minutes.

The developing gear would be less than £30 from eBay, the scanner somewhere from £50-£100, depending on how lucky you get, and the chemicals to develop a roll of film range from 20p (black and white, dilute rodinal) to maybe £1.50 (colour dev kit). As you won't be able to take advantage of the cheap ASDA dev/scan option due to the subject matter, you're probably looking at £7/roll minimum to get them deved and scanned professionally, and quite possible a lot more than that.
 
well two things spring to mind if you didnt want to develop, 1. put a note in the package describing that it has adult content, or phone the developers first to see how they would react to developing such things. and 2. its a negative so you wouldnt really see anything comprehensible on there anyway especially if it was 35mm. If you were sending off large format slide film to be developed by someone then thats another kettle of fish.

Actually for someone who isnt prudish, developing adult material could be a little corner of a market to pick up on and earn some pin money.

On a side note do you have the same concerns about people coming across your blog unexpectedly
 
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Ah, ok. This is some good information. I think in the short term I'll maybe just contact a couple of developers and check with them first whilst also scouting around on eBay for the kit to develop our own.
 
You could set yourself up to do black and white developing including a 2nd hand flatbed scanner for about £150, it wouldn't take long to spend that with a processing company.
 
Colour neg isn't that hard as long as you can find a consistent and reliable way to keep your chemicals (mainly the dev) at the right temperature, and in some ways it's easier as C41 is a standard process so all films go in for the same amount of time.

If you definitely want to go down the route of getting a lab to process and/or scan, you could always give them a ring or an email and ask them if they're happy to work with your films?

Alternatively you could buy a scanner and then get a lab to do the developing? Then they're not looking at detail at your images so it might be less of an issue for them as they just develop, cut and sleeve them before sending them back for you to scan yourself. Best of both worlds then; you get reliable and easy developing and you don't have to worry as much about the lab being offended by the images.
 
At least you've been forwarding thinking in not subjecting people to content they may not want to see. When I worked at a processing shop, some people didn't seem to care and I def saw some things id like to 'unsee' - The 2nd place I worked, the photos came off the printer in full view of the shop (I didn't design the shop lay out!!) so I saw a few panicked faces! (and i had to get taller member of staff to move these quickly when they printed!).
 
dan_yell said:
At least you've been forwarding thinking in not subjecting people to content they may not want to see. When I worked at a processing shop, some people didn't seem to care and I def saw some things id like to 'unsee' - The 2nd place I worked, the photos came off the printer in full view of the shop (I didn't design the shop lay out!!) so I saw a few panicked faces! (and i had to get taller member of staff to move these quickly when they printed!).
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I used to work in a certain fruit based computer shop and one of the tasks I had to do was data transfers. We took to moving the import window to the edge of the screen so images wouldn't show up....
 
RaglanSurf said:
In days gone by there used to be small ads in the back pages of Amateur Photographer that offered 'discrete' services, I don't imagine there's much call for them since the arrival of digital. As the others have said above I'd have a look at processing your own.
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It wasn't known as Amateur Pornographer for nothing back then !
 
First off, good on you for actually being considerate enough to take this into account. :clap:

I'd recommend doing your own home development, mainly because you won't then be tempted to self-censor...which would defeat the whole idea, I guess? You'll learn a lot, it's really fun (well, I think so) and it's economical. You can pick up a basic kit to do B&W secondhand on eBay for £25 and the chemicals will cost another £20 or so. You should get 15 or 20 films out of this. Colour is costlier to set up as you really need a processor (water bath essentially), but it's no more difficult to actually do the processing and chemical costs are low if you do a few films in a batch. I think mine work out at roughly a pound per roll. There are loads of threads on here with great advice on what to buy and the basics, but ask away if you need specific info.
 
Also, I guess a second-best option (unless you just happen to have a 'trusted friend' who could process them for you) would be to use one of the process-only services that a few companies provide. I.e. no scanning. If you used a fairly large company, I'd hazard a guess that the images may then not even been seen at all.
 
Colour processing needn't be much more expensive than b&w. My water bath is just a washing up bowl filled with hot water from the tap. This gets the temp up to about 33 degrees then I add boiling water to push it up to 38 degrees, seems to work ok so far. The trick is to work reasonably quickly to keep the temp fairly even.

Andy
 
Blank_Canvas said:
It wasn't known as Amateur Pornographer for nothing back then !
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Back then, ALL the mags were ### Pornographer/y!!!

There were loads of tales about D&P places that had noticeboards of NSFW prints all over the place as well as assorted albums that employees had made for their own amusement.
 
Wish my Wife would 'Pose' but she is a 'Good Catholic Girl ' -- I'm Church of England ( Lapsed ! )
 
I seem to recall there may have been a problem with the Royal Mail not carrying what they considered to be pornographic material, so that might be an issue for mailorder d&p as far as advertising their services is required. There are a number of websites catering for photographers and models which have members who might well know where to get such film developed, so maybe try them?

Edit: also check out the Talk N&G forum as there is a discussion on there that might help.

https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/getting-glamour-photos-printed.520120/
 
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