Contact Page - Photography School in Italy

TheDarkroom International School Of Photography:
TheDarkroom International School of Professional Photography, located in Florence, Italy, is a member of the National Association of Professional Photographers. Our main goal is to prepare you for a career as a professional photographer. Our courses are held by high-level teachers, all professionals in different fields, e.g. photo reportage, advertisement, fashion, portraiture, architecture, beauty, scientific, sport, nature and artists of glamour, nude and ancient printing techniques.

Specially developed for the needs of our students, we offer intensive courses that begin every month and a nine-month academic course that begins every October. At the end of this academic program you will have the necessary knowledge to start a professional career. Our professional photography programs are of the highest standards and are envisaged to give you the highest understanding of light, composition, aesthetics and use of modern techniques and gears. Special attention is given to recognizing and improving your natural skills. We believe in practical experience so a great deal of time is given to darkroom and field work. Our programs will help you study every technique that is helpful to express your creativity, both in the darkroom and using the computer.

Our courses are tailored for beginners who want to learn and have fun with photography as well as for the experienced who want to become professionals and learn how to solve technical and esthetical problems.

DIGITAL LAB AND EQUIPMENT
We are equipped with 10 Apple MacIntosh iMac Intel computers, Leopard Mac OSX, Adobe Photoshop CS3, scanners for prints and negatives, color printers, Nikon D3, Canon and Fuji digital cameras.


PHOTO LAB
Equipped space to work on any photographic process, like color or black and white, archive processings, on toning your B/W prints or on film developing up to 13x18cm (5x7in) format. Tanks are available to develop up to five 35mm reels all in once. Any tool, like graduated cylinders, thermometers, funnels, jugs are at hand. A dust-free film drying cabinet is available for fast drying your films. Processings guides, chemicals and developing times are available.


THREE DARKROOMS
We have three darkrooms equipped with 27 professional enlargers by Durst and IFF. All of them can print up to 6x9cm film format. The maximum size of your picture can be over 70x100cm. We also have two enlargers for film format up to 13x18cm (5x7in). Condensers, diffusers or cold light heads are available on all the machines to satisfy any relish.
Colour invertible print is carried out in drum, negative RA4 print is carried out in automatic roller machine for up to 40cm (16in) width paper, for any lenght you like.


PHOTO STUDIO
Studio is equipped with Toyo Wiew 10x12cm (4x5in) 13x18cm (5x7in) large format cameras, Toyo Field 4x5" folding large format cameras, a wide range of lenses for large format from 47mm to 360mm, Mamiya 6x9cm cameras with a range of lenses from 50mm to 250mm, Rolleiflex 6000 system with a range of lenses from 40mm to 300mm, Rolleiflex TLR cameras, Nikon 24x36mm reflex cameras, digital cameras, wide range of lenses, any kind of backdrops, stands and tripods.

LIGHTING
Lighting systems are for 10000w continous lighting and for 15000w/s flash lighting, diffusers, umbrellas, reflectors, Fresnel heads, banks, window-light banks, Gitzo and Manfrotto tripods.

Courses director MICHELE PERO is internationally known and his courses attract students worldwide.
War photoreporter, Michele Pero has covered the last conflicts in the Balkans. His photos are in all the major italian newspapers and magazines, like Il Corriere della Sera, La Repubblica, La Stampa, Il Giornale, Il Venerdì, Specchio, L'Espresso. His reportage about the war of Kosovo has been exhibited for a year in all the major italian and german towns and it is permanent exibition at the Friedensmuseum of Nuernberg. Now he works with photoreportage, advertising photography and cinematography, which he also taught for one year.