Printing images successfully in a darkroom requires lots of skill, especially if you're printing iconic photographs for Magnum Photos. Such is the case for Pablo Inirio, a Magnum master printer.

This video profile of Inirio briefly walks through his background and process in the darkroom, giving interesting insight into what a master printer does.

Inirio explains how amazing it was seeing a photograph develop for the first time. "The first time I saw an image come up in the developer, I was like, wow, this is great," he says. "You know, because it's almost like a little bit of magic in there, you know? You know it's just a chemical process and all that. But still, when you see the image comes up, it's like, wow, this is cool. From then on, I was hooked. "

"it's almost like a little bit of magic in there"

Inirio started working for Magnum in 1992 after he answered an ad asking for a printer for an agency. They initially hired someone else, but they called him back two to three weeks later because the person they had hired left. Throughout his time working for Magnum, he's printed images from Bruce Gilden, Gilles Peress, Eugene Richards, Burt Glinn, Inge Morath and many more.

What stood out to me most about the video was his process walkthrough. Being a master printer means you often need to repeat a print months or years later. Because of this, Inirio says he tries to keep the process really simple and keeps notes to save himself time later. His notes take the form of outlines on a working print, labeling sections that he's dodging or burning or adding contrast filters. You can even buy reproductions of his test prints, complete with mark-ups and notations. Seeing how he looks at a photo relative to printing is fascinating, and I've found myself closely examining his notations on prints many times.

If you've never had the opportunity to step inside a darkroom, this is a neat video to watch to see what the process is like. As Inirio points out, it's not really like how movies show it, with pictures hanging up with clothespins. But it is a truly special process that, even when you've been doing it for a long time, still feels a little bit magical.

2025-5-2 16:00