Caffenol Developing Solution

Text by Lindsey Shaw

With funding from FRFF, I was able to explore alternative darkroom practices using natural, household materials to enable at-home film processing. I worked with a caffenol-based developer, first testing and refining the chemistry on 35mm still film before adapting the process for Super 8, which I then layered with hand-drawn animation. By embracing inconsistencies and material imperfections, this workflow establishes a low-cost and accessible method for working with analog film, while also supporting iterative experimentation with alternative developing techniques.

This project was made possible with support from the Frank-Ratchye Further Fund Microgrant #2024-031.