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Lighthouse
Darkroom was started in 1988 by photographer Christopher Joyce
and printer Jonathan de Villiers. Christopher spent the early
sixties assisting photographers such as John French and Norman
Parkinson, before opening his own studio in Soho in 1967. Initially
he concentrated on still life but was soon working in portraiture,
fashion and location photography. He began to take increasingly
more personal work in the 1980s while still in demand as one of
London's leading advertising photographers. His work was exhibited
in Britain, Holland and Japan. It was his interest in black-and-white
photography that led him to establish Lighthouse Darkroom in 1988.
Working from the basement of Christopher's studio in Poland Street,
Jonathan quickly established a reputation for the company, offering
a wide variety of printing techniques. Having moved the business
in 1993 to larger premises in nearby Falconberg Court, Jonathan
left Lighthouse to study philosophy and later to start a career
as a photographer in his own right.
Mike
Crawford took over the running of the company after Jonathan's
departure, and when Christopher Joyce died a year later, Mike
became owner of Lighthouse. Born in Edinburgh in 1962, he has
worked as a printer in London since 1984. Having spent nine years
at Darkside Photographic, his role at Lighthouse allowed him to
become directly involved in creative printing and to work closely
with photographers in fashion, advertising and editorial, and
for exhibition and book commissions. Since joining Lighthouse
his prints have featured each year in the AOP awards. Exhibitions
of his own photographs have been held in London and Europe, and
in 1997 he gained an MA in Photography; History and Culture.
In 1999 Mike was joined by Gaby Gassner who had worked for the
company in 1996-97, and later that year Lighthouse moved to the
Grays Inn Road. Gaby Gassner trained in printing in Germany. She
moved to London in 1992, and spent four years working with renowned
printer Roy Snell. While working for Metro Art's new team of specialised
printers between 1997 and 1999 she undertook a number of important
commissions, including David Bailey's exhibition and book Birth
of the Cool.
Lighthouse Darkroom is recognised as one of the UKs leading
specialist black-and-white photographic printers, with a unique
collaborative approach to their working process.

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