The Savannah Center for Photography is a new nonprofit organization that aims to bring back the darkroom to Savannah, Georgia. This initiative is a welcome addition to the city's art scene, offering a community darkroom, gallery, and workshop space for photographers. The center's grand opening and inaugural show, SCP Presents, will take place on June 26, 2026, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at 2205 Price Street. The event will feature a tour of the facilities, including a newly equipped black-and-white darkroom, and an exhibition of photography by board members, photographer friends, and acquaintances, with all proceeds donated to the new venture. The center's board of directors includes experienced professionals in fine art, photography, academia, business, and arts administration, such as Steve Bliss, Erin Dunn, Joshua Lindsey, and Caitie Moore. The center's founder, Josh Yates, is a photographer with a budding national career, known for his work in abandoned spaces and his interest in darkroom photography. Yates' journey began after attending a workshop in Yosemite with Alan Ross, assistant to the famed Ansel Adams, where he was inspired to get back into the darkroom. The Savannah Photo Club, founded at the end of 2023, has also played a role in the resurgence of interest in analog photography. The club arranges monthly meetups at a local coffee shop, attracting up to a hundred photography enthusiasts of all levels. Yates hopes that this local passion will translate into memberships at the new Savannah Center for Photography, offering annual support tiers and monthly studio subscriptions. The center's inaugural show will feature Yates' work, as well as pieces by other board members and photographer friends. Yates' photography career has been fast and impressive, with his work included in group shows in Savannah, Richmond Hill, Tucson, and Fort Collins, and selected for exhibitions at the Houston Center for Photography and the Atlanta Center for Photography. His work has also been recognized with awards and juried into prestigious events, such as the ArtFields in Lake City, SC, and the SlowExposures Festival celebrating the rural American South. Yates' chosen subject matter is abandoned spaces, always shot in black and white, with his three main bodies of work titled De/Institutionalized, American Wasteland, and Front Row Seats to the End of the World. His work is beautifully bleak, capturing stark, dystopian interiors and landscapes. The Savannah Center for Photography is a welcome and needed addition to the city's art scene, offering a community darkroom, gallery, and workshop space, with possible long-term plans for a larger digital lab, matting and framing areas, alternative process exposure areas, more scanners and printers. Yates is committed to offering classes for beginners and advanced photographers, as well as a monthly critique group, to foster the growth and appreciation of photography in the community.
