Owner of Eastside Silver Print community darkroom asking for help to keep studio open

AUSTIN, Texas - Anthony Maddaloni has been operating a local darkroom called Eastside Silver Print in East Austin for the past 12 years.

However, with economic hardships he might have to pack up his studio and turn off the lights for good.

"Because the rent here is getting worse. The upkeep of all my photographic equipment and getting more equipment is going to be much more expensive," says Maddaloni.

The lease of the dark room is coming up for renewal in April and Maddaloni is asking the community for help.

He started a GoFundMe page hoping the community will come together to keep this art form alive. "We have the goal set up for $7,000, so it's a fair amount of money and we feel like that will basically keep us in pretty good stead for the next year or two. So that's our goal," says Maddaloni.

Maintaining the dark room has put a financial strain on Maddaloni as the price of equipment is going up.

"One of the things that's going on right now with the film industry is, Kodak increase their film prices by 50%. And that means that my chemistry and my paper has gone up as well," says Maddaloni.

Maddaloni is a photography educator with a passion on teaching aspiring photographers the art of film, which is why he allows people from all over to use the space to develop film.

"So I really started this darkroom to be like that, to be an entry point for people who had no idea what any of this is like to come here and take very affordable lessons and learn how to do this and then have a place that they can actually come back to and try and work on their mark, on their skills," says Maddaloni.

Maddaloni has been a photographer most of his life and has seen the industry change throughout the years from film to digital.

"This is really important to keep alive, because everything we do in here is analog, and everything we do in here is archival, meaning that this film, these prints, they're going to last well over a thousand years," says Maddaloni.

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