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 UK’s leading specialist black-and-white photographic printers, with a unique collaborative approach to their working process.