Photographers deserve respect

Your Jan. 31 article “Photography Club Exhibition to Open” describing the Bloomington Photography Club exhibit that is scheduled to open at the John Waldron Arts Center Feb. 1, struck a chord with some local photographers — a chord of a slightly different tone than the one taken by the article. For about a year and a half I have been taking black and white photography classes at the Waldron and working in the darkroom to develop prints. A core group of about six of us have been using the darkroom weekly, along with students from Bloomington High School South, some university students and a shifting group of Waldron students and freelance photographers. \nThe week of Jan. 7, the first week of classes in the new session, we were told that the photography class had been cancelled due to low enrollment. We were also told that the darkroom would be permanently closed. We only had a few days to get our things out of the darkroom before it was completely dismantled.\nAt the time of this writing, the enlargers have been removed and the darkroom/studio has been converted into an office. Those of us who used to work there and exhibited our work in the downstairs hallway have been left to scramble for darkroom space. \nCommunication with the center director and board has been frustrating at best. I was told that the popularity of digital photography led to a drop in class enrollment and darkroom use. If that is so, then perhaps the center should have added a course in digital photography instead of dropping photography from its art curriculum altogether. \nI find it ironic that a few weeks after the center eliminated its own photography program, it would honor local photographers (and the art status of photography) with an exhibit in the gallery. It seems that “Bloomington shutterbugs” can only “shine at the Waldron” if they are not affiliated with the center itself.