Chemigrams are an experimental type of cameraless photography that uses resists, such as varnish, oil, or wax, to create abstract, and oftentimes unpredictable, images on light-sensitive paper. Chemigrams were invented by Pierre Cordier in 1956, and he proclaimed chemigrams to be, “Most likely, the ultimate adventure of gelatin silver bromide.”

In this workshop, you will learn the basics of this fun process and how to incorporate different kinds of mark-making — including painting, drawing, and printmaking processes — into your chemigrams. Instructor Bridget Conn will give an overview of how chemigrams work, demonstrate a variety of tools and methods to explore mark-making, and give guidance on how to achieve control over value, texture, and even color.

Workshop participants will have plenty of time to get hands-on with the process, and the workshop will end with a mini-critique, when students will present their most successful piece.

All materials for the workshop are provided onsite and in the cost of the workshop. Participants are encouraged to bring their own resists to experiment with, including lotion, lipstick, nail polish, and honey.

This class is suitable for all beginners, or those who want to expand their knowledge of the various ways chemigrams can be made. Basic darkroom experience is helpful but is not required.

For more information and to register, click here.

Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes October 8 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

Even if you’ve developed black & white film before, this workshop is a great refresher on technique and will show you how to maximize the tools in Aurora’s darkroom. If this is your first time, or if you’ve only watched a couple videos online, the small size of this workshop makes it ideal for asking questions and getting comfortable with the process.

Please note: This workshop is for 35mm and 120mm black & white film only. Visit auroraphoto.org/workshops for information on color film and 4 x 5 workshops.

Covered in the workshop:

* Loading film correctly onto plastic or metal reels
* Mixing black & white chemistry properly
* Learning the importance of timing, temperature, and agitation
* Reading your negatives to select frames for printing
* Proper care, storage, and handling of negatives

All chemistry and equipment are included in the price of the workshop. During the workshop, you will develop one roll of 35mm and 120mm black & white film, dry it, and store it in a plastic negative sleeve ready to make a contact sheet or enlargements.

For more information and to register, click here.

October 10, 7pm
Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes October 7 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

More and more, photographers who shoot color film are opting to develop their own film rather than spending the time, energy, and money to send it off to a lab. Developing color film is a whole other world from developing black & white film, with different chemistry, techniques, and concerns. If you’ve developed color film before, this workshop is a great refresher on technique and will show you how to maximize the tools in Aurora’s darkroom. If this is your first time, or if you’ve only watched a couple videos online, the small size of this workshop makes it ideal for asking questions and getting comfortable with the process.

Please note: This workshop is for 35mm and 120mm color film only. 

Covered in the workshop:

* Loading film correctly onto plastic or metal reels
* Mixing color chemistry for success
* Knowing the importance of timing, temperature, and agitation
* Reading your negatives to select frames for printing
* Proper care, storage, and handling of negatives

All chemistry and equipment are included in the price of the workshop. During the workshop, you will develop one roll of 35mm and 120mm color film, dry it, and store it in a plastic negative sleeve ready to scan.

For more information and to register, click here or visit our Workshops page at auroraphoto.org.

This workshop will be taught by Carlos Perez. Aurora’s Lab Manager.

Please join us for First Friday at Aurora PhotoCenter, October 3, 6-9pm, when we will open the exhibition Nowhere in Particular by Carlos Perez in the Efroymson Gallery.

In this work, Perez explores color as it plays out on the Indiana cityscape, using contact sheet photography to create enormously detailed, large-scale images that are simultaneously hyper-descriptive and abstract. In Nowhere in Particular, everyday scenes and quiet streets are elevated with new beauty and unexpected movement; the mosaic-like form of the images suggests that these American views, like America itself, is larger than the sum of its parts.

Carlos Perez has a BA in Studio Art with a minor in Computer Information Technology from Ball State University. Perez was an intern at Aurora PhotoCenter in 2024 and is currently Lab Manager at Aurora.

This exhibition will be on view through November 21, 2025.

Also on view in October in our Main Gallery is Priya Suresh Kambli’s exhibition Family Pictures. At age 18, a couple years after the death of her parents, Kambli moved from India to the United States, with all her possessions, including a treasured collection of family photographs, in one suitcase. Since then, Kambli has navigated a sense of belonging in two worlds, with her family photographs acting as stepping stones across continents and generations. First installed at Mulvane Art Museum in 2025, the exhibition Family Pictures brings together 15 years of Kambli’s work as she connects to family, culture, and heritage through photographs, both new and old. On view through November 14.

Join us for an evening of talking film, shooting film, getting to know other film photographers, and enjoying some great brews at Metazoa Brewing Company!

Roberts Distributors hosts this film meet-up that brings together the Midwest's amazing film photography community. There will be be some great giveaways throughout the evening, so make sure to arrive on time!

Aurora will be at the meet-up with the latest news on our memberships and workshops. If you join as an Aurora member during the event, you will receive a free roll of film, black-and-white or color.

See you there!

September 27, 1-4pm

Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes September 24 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

If you’ve made a black & white print before, this workshop is a great refresher on technique and will show you how to maximize the tools in Aurora’s darkroom. If this is your first time, or if you’ve only watched a couple videos online, the small size of this workshop makes it ideal for asking questions and getting comfortable with the process.

Covered in the workshop:

* Selecting negatives to print
* Operating the enlarger, easel, grain focuser and other equipment
* Making a test strip
* Proper technique with the chemistry trays
* Care, storage, and handling of negatives and prints

All chemistry, paper, and equipment are included in the price of the workshop. During the workshop, you will create 1-3 prints.

For more information and to register, click here or visit our Workshops page at auroraphoto.org.

September 26, 7pm
Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes September 23 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

This one-session workshop is designed to teach you how to make archival inkjet prints on our Canon P-1000, which prints sheets up to 17 x 25 inches. In the workshop, we will cover the essential steps necessary to create a beautiful, balanced print using Aurora’s digital lab. Participants will make 2 prints during the workshop on 11 x 14 Moab luster paper.

Covered in the workshop:

* Resolution, bit depth, and your print
* Which file formats are best for printing
* Using print profiles
* Previewing your print with soft proofing
* Making basic adjustments to brightness, contrast, and color balance
* Choosing the right paper for your image

For more information and to register, click here.

September 20, 1-4pm
Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes September 17 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

More and more, photographers who shoot color film are opting to develop their own film rather than spending the time, energy, and money to send it off to a lab. Developing color film is a whole other world from developing black & white film, with different chemistry, techniques, and concerns. If you’ve developed color film before, this workshop is a great refresher on technique and will show you how to maximize the tools in Aurora’s darkroom. If this is your first time, or if you’ve only watched a couple videos online, the small size of this workshop makes it ideal for asking questions and getting comfortable with the process.

Please note: This workshop is for 35mm and 120mm color film only. 

Covered in the workshop:

* Loading film correctly onto plastic or metal reels
* Mixing color chemistry for success
* Knowing the importance of timing, temperature, and agitation
* Reading your negatives to select frames for printing
* Proper care, storage, and handling of negatives

All chemistry and equipment are included in the price of the workshop. During the workshop, you will develop one roll of 35mm and 120mm color film, dry it, and store it in a plastic negative sleeve ready to scan.

For more information and to register, click here or visit our Workshops page at auroraphoto.org.

This workshop will be taught by Carlos Perez. Aurora’s Lab Manager.

September 19, 7pm

Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes September 16 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

This one-session workshop is designed to teach you how to make beautiful scans on our Epson v850 flatbed scanner and with our camera-based system for use either in printing or online. We will cover basic considerations as well as advanced setting possibilities in the scanning software. We will go through example scans in three sizes of film, including 35mm, 120mm, and 4 x 5.

Covered in the workshop:

* What are resolution (dpi/ppi), bit depth, and color channels and how do they affect my scan?
* Cleaning and loading film into the holders to minimize dust
* Basic settings for scanning b&w and color negatives, slides, and documents
* Troubleshooting dust, blurriness, Newton rings, flatness, color shifts, and other scanning issues
* File formats for saving your scan, including TIFF, jpeg, and dng

Click here for more information and to register for the workshop.

Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes September 10 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

Even if you’ve developed black & white film before, this workshop is a great refresher on technique and will show you how to maximize the tools in Aurora’s darkroom. If this is your first time, or if you’ve only watched a couple videos online, the small size of this workshop makes it ideal for asking questions and getting comfortable with the process.

Please note: This workshop is for 35mm and 120mm black & white film only. Visit auroraphoto.org/workshops for information on color film and 4 x 5 workshops.

Covered in the workshop:

* Loading film correctly onto plastic or metal reels
* Mixing black & white chemistry properly
* Learning the importance of timing, temperature, and agitation
* Reading your negatives to select frames for printing
* Proper care, storage, and handling of negatives

All chemistry and equipment are included in the price of the workshop. During the workshop, you will develop one roll of 35mm and 120mm black & white film, dry it, and store it in a plastic negative sleeve ready to make a contact sheet or enlargements.

For more information and to register, click here.

Aurora with SPARK Monument Circle
Free and open to the public

SPARK, the pop-up park on Indy’s Monument Circle, is the downtown place to meet, enjoy the beautiful weather and people, and create. Aurora will be at the SPARK art kiosk close to the info booth in the middle of the park hosting a free & fun cyanotype session.

Cyanotype is a camera-less photography made out in the sun, rather than in a darkroom. You place objects — such as plants — on top of a piece of photo-treated paper, and then use the sun to expose the paper. The result is an image that is an exact outline of the object. It’s a fun and magical way to engage photography! Although it may be new to modern people, cyanotype has been around since photography was invented in the 1800s.

Come explore the creative possibilities of this fascinating process. We will have some objects on hand to experiment with, but feel free to bring your own. Flat items usually work best, and cyanotype can be messy, so precious things like family heirlooms should probably stay at home. All other necessary materials will be provided free at the workshop.

This activity is best suited for artists 7+ years old; minors must be accompanied by an adult.

Please join us for the opening of Priya Suresh Kambli’s exhibition, Family Pictures, from 6-9pm. At age 18, a couple years after the death of her parents, Priya Suresh Kambli moved from India to the United States, with all her possessions, including a treasured collection of family photographs, in one suitcase. Since then, Kambli has navigated a sense of belonging in two worlds, with her family photographs acting as stepping stones across continents and generations. First installed at Mulvane Art Museum in 2025, the exhibition Family Pictures brings together 15 years of Kambli’s work as she connects to family, culture, and heritage through photographs, both new and old. The exhibition will be in Aurora’s Main Gallery from September 5 - November 14, 2025.

In Aurora’s Efroymson Gallery, in the series Um Passo à Frente, artist Erin Patton McFarren creates large-scale cyanotypes as a means of marking time and place. Using non-toxic materials and the original 1842 recipe, her cyanotypes interact with sunlight and bodies of water, allowing shifting forms of light and movement to produce unique images on paper. In 2024, Patton McFarren was awarded the Eli Lilly Creativity Fellowship, which enabled her to spend a summer creating art along the coast of Brazil. Patton McFarren writes of her work, “My journey as an artist is one of movement — both physical and internal. Each place I have explored in Brazil — Itamambuca, Rio, São Paulo, São Luís do Paraitinga — has left its mark, offering new ways of working, observing, and being.” At Aurora through September 15.

August 30, 1-4pm

Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes August 28 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

If you’ve made a black & white print before, this workshop is a great refresher on technique and will show you how to maximize the tools in Aurora’s darkroom. If this is your first time, or if you’ve only watched a couple videos online, the small size of this workshop makes it ideal for asking questions and getting comfortable with the process.

Covered in the workshop:

* Selecting negatives to print
* Operating the enlarger, easel, grain focuser and other equipment
* Making a test strip
* Proper technique with the chemistry trays
* Care, storage, and handling of negatives and prints

All chemistry, paper, and equipment are included in the price of the workshop. During the workshop, you will create 1-3 prints.

For more information and to register, click here or visit our Workshops page at auroraphoto.org.

August 23, 1-4pm
Limited to 10 participants
Registration closes August 20 or when filled

Non-Members: $110
Aurora Members: $100
(Enter Member VIP code at checkout for discount)

Please join Erin Patton McFarren for this two-part workshop on printing cyanotypes on fabric and the wet cyanotype process with pigments. Cyanotype is a camera-less photography made out in the sun, rather than in a darkroom. You place objects — such as plants — on top of a piece of photo-treated fabric, and then use the sun to expose the fabric. The result is an image that is an exact outline of the objects in your composition.

In the workshop, we will mix and apply light sensitive chemistry on a 16-inch cotton handkerchief. You will then create a composition on the fabric using flowers and plants we will have on hand, or bring your own objects to use in your composition. After exposing the image you will have a unique fabric cyanotype featuring the brilliant blue color that is the hallmark of the process.

While the chemistry dries on our fabric handkerchiefs, we will explore the “wet cyanotype” process, enhancing our images with powdered watercolor and dyes to introduce flowing colors beyond the traditional Prussian blue.

A wet cyanotype begins like a traditional cyanotype, with objects such as leaves and flowers placed on the sensitized surface. Then, dry pigments are applied, followed by a spray of dyes and soap bubbles. The piece is wrapped in plastic wrap and exposed to sunlight, allowing swirling liquids and blending colors to create dynamic, organic patterns.

For more information and to register, click here or visit our Workshops page at auroraphoto.org.

The Thursday Night Photobook Throwdown is back in full force in August! Bring your newest photobook, or the one you’ve recently fallen in love with again, for an evening of sharing, conversation, and appreciation for this format for photography that is an art form in and onto itself!

Don’t have a book in mind to share? Not to worry — you can also comb through Aurora’s photobook library of over 300 titles for a wildcard if you’re feeling lucky that night.

We will start at the tables in the Aurora PhotoCenter Gallery, Suite C9, and then migrate down to a close-by watering hole when the mood strikes us or 7pm, whichever comes first!

August 20, 6-9pm
Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes August 18 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

This one-session workshop is designed to teach you how to make archival inkjet prints on our Canon P-1000, which prints sheets up to 17 x 25 inches. In the workshop, we will cover the essential steps necessary to create a beautiful, balanced print using Aurora’s digital lab. Participants will make 2 prints during the workshop on 11 x 14 Moab luster paper.

Covered in the workshop:

* Resolution, bit depth, and your print
* Which file formats are best for printing
* Using print profiles
* Previewing your print with soft proofing
* Making basic adjustments to brightness, contrast, and color balance
* Choosing the right paper for your image

For more information and to register, click here.

August 16, 1-4pm
Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes August 14 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

More and more, photographers who shoot color film are opting to develop their own film rather than spending the time, energy, and money to send it off to a lab. Developing color film is a whole other world from developing black & white film, with different chemistry, techniques, and concerns. If you’ve developed color film before, this workshop is a great refresher on technique and will show you how to maximize the tools in Aurora’s darkroom. If this is your first time, or if you’ve only watched a couple videos online, the small size of this workshop makes it ideal for asking questions and getting comfortable with the process.

Please note: This workshop is for 35mm and 120mm color film only. 

Covered in the workshop:

* Loading film correctly onto plastic or metal reels
* Mixing color chemistry for success
* Knowing the importance of timing, temperature, and agitation
* Reading your negatives to select frames for printing
* Proper care, storage, and handling of negatives

All chemistry and equipment are included in the price of the workshop. During the workshop, you will develop one roll of 35mm and 120mm color film, dry it, and store it in a plastic negative sleeve ready to scan.

For more information and to register, click here or visit our Workshops page at auroraphoto.org.

This workshop will be taught by Carlos Perez. Aurora’s 2024 intern, Carlos is a Senior at Ball State University, where he will complete a BA in Photography with a minor in Computer Information Technology.

Aurora with SPARK Monument Circle
Free and open to the public

SPARK, the pop-up park on Indy’s Monument Circle, is the downtown place to meet, enjoy the beautiful weather and people, and create. Aurora will be at the SPARK art kiosk close to the info booth in the middle of the park hosting a free & fun cyanotype session.

Cyanotype is a camera-less photography made out in the sun, rather than in a darkroom. You place objects — such as plants — on top of a piece of photo-treated paper, and then use the sun to expose the paper. The result is an image that is an exact outline of the object. It’s a fun and magical way to engage photography! Although it may be new to modern people, cyanotype has been around since photography was invented in the 1800s.

Come explore the creative possibilities of this fascinating process. We will have some objects on hand to experiment with, but feel free to bring your own. Flat items usually work best, and cyanotype can be messy, so precious things like family heirlooms should probably stay at home. All other necessary materials will be provided free at the workshop.

This activity is best suited for artists 7+ years old; minors must be accompanied by an adult.

August 9, 1-4pm

Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes August 7 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

Even if you’ve developed black & white film before, this workshop is a great refresher on technique and will show you how to maximize the tools in Aurora’s darkroom. If this is your first time, or if you’ve only watched a couple videos online, the small size of this workshop makes it ideal for asking questions and getting comfortable with the process.

Covered in the workshop:

* Loading film correctly onto plastic or metal reels
* Mixing black & white chemistry properly
* Learning the importance of timing, temperature, and agitation
* Reading your negatives to select frames for printing
* Proper care, storage, and handling of negatives

Read more about the workshop, and register to attend by clicking here.

August 6, 6-9pm

Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes August 4 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

This one-session workshop is designed to teach you how to make beautiful scans on our Epson v850 flatbed scanner for use either in printing or online. We will cover basic considerations as well as advanced setting possibilities in the scanning software. We will go through example scans in three sizes of film, including 35mm, 120mm, and 4 x 5.

Covered in the workshop:

* What are resolution (dpi/ppi), bit depth, and color channels and how do they affect my scan?
* Cleaning and loading film into the holders to minimize dust
* Basic settings for scanning b&w and color negatives, slides, and documents
* Troubleshooting dust, blurriness, Newton rings, flatness, color shifts, and other scanning issues
* File formats for saving your scan, including TIFF, jpeg, and dng

Click here for more information and to register for the workshop.

August First Friday at Aurora features the opening of a new exhibition in our Efroymson Gallery, Um Passo à Frente, with work by Erin Patton McFarren.

Artist Erin Patton McFarren creates large-scale cyanotypes as a means of marking time and place. Using non-toxic materials and the original 1842 recipe, her cyanotypes interact with sunlight and bodies of water, allowing shifting forms of light and movement to produce unique images on paper. In 2024, Patton McFarren was awarded the Eli Lilly Creativity Fellowship, which enabled her to spend a summer creating art along the coast of Brazil making the work that would become Um Passo à Frente.

Patton McFarren writes of her work:

“My journey as an artist is one of movement — both physical and internal. Each place I have explored in Brazil — Itamambuca, Rio, São Paulo, São Luís do Paraitinga — has left its mark, offering new ways of working, observing, and being.

I create in conversation with my surroundings: watching waves roll in before they break, studying the changing light, and allowing the wind to guide the process. I work with nature rather than against it, embracing the elements — water, sun, and earth — to form images that echo the rolling hills, ocean tides, and shifting landscapes around me.

The presence of Iemanjá, the Great Mother of the Sea, has been a recurring force in my cyanotypes. She represents balance, protection, and the deep emotional currents that shape us. Like the ocean she embodies, my process is fluid, unpredictable, and deeply connected to the environment. My practice is about surrendering to place — allowing it to transform not only the work but the self. I arrived in Brazil without expectations, and in return, I found a version of myself that was always there, waiting to surface.”

Um Passo à Frente will be on view at Aurora until September 15.

Juan Brenner’s series Genesis is filled with the beauty, aspiration, sanctity, and desire of the Guatemalan Highlands, where Brenner lives and works. In his images, as in the Highlands, traditional codes of power intermingle with a vibrant and vital youth culture, which mixes the ancient dress trajé with heavy metal t-shirts, ornate teeth art, and the ubiquitous cell phone. Published as a book in 2024 by Guest Editions, the large-scale prints in this exhibition of Genesis distill the grit, glamour, and always gold of the Highlands.

Brenner writes of his work: “For the last 5 years most of my work has been focused on understanding the complex phenomena pertaining to a very particular and important territory known as the Guatemalan Highlands. Starting from the Spanish invasion of Guatemala in the 16th century and its repercussions, then going through the imposed obscurantism that subdued and crushed the local reigns and finally a new colonial system that shifted the power balance in favor of the invaders, I've been garnering many ideas that have become key ingredients in my subject of research.

Genesis will be on view in Aurora’s Main Gallery until August 15.

July 19, 1-4pm

Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes July 17 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

If you’ve made a black & white print before, this workshop is a great refresher on technique and will show you how to maximize the tools in Aurora’s darkroom. If this is your first time, or if you’ve only watched a couple videos online, the small size of this workshop makes it ideal for asking questions and getting comfortable with the process.

Covered in the workshop:

* Selecting negatives to print
* Operating the enlarger, easel, grain focuser and other equipment
* Making a test strip
* Proper technique with the chemistry trays
* Care, storage, and handling of negatives and prints

All chemistry, paper, and equipment are included in the price of the workshop. During the workshop, you will create 1-3 prints.

For more information and to register, click here or visit our Workshops page at auroraphoto.org.

Aurora with SPARK Monument Circle
Free and open to the public

SPARK, the pop-up park on Indy’s Monument Circle, is the downtown place to meet, enjoy the beautiful weather and people, and create. Aurora will be at the SPARK art kiosk close to the info booth in the middle of the park hosting a free & fun cyanotype session.

Cyanotype is a camera-less photography made out in the sun, rather than in a darkroom. You place objects — such as plants — on top of a piece of photo-treated paper, and then use the sun to expose the paper. The result is an image that is an exact outline of the object. It’s a fun and magical way to engage photography! Although it may be new to modern people, cyanotype has been around since photography was invented in the 1800s.

Come explore the creative possibilities of this fascinating process. We will have some objects on hand to experiment with, but feel free to bring your own. Flat items usually work best, and cyanotype can be messy, so precious things like family heirlooms should probably stay at home. All other necessary materials will be provided free at the workshop.

This activity is best suited for artists 7+ years old; minors must be accompanied by an adult.

July 17, 6-9pm
Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes July 14 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

More and more, photographers who shoot color film are opting to develop their own film rather than spending the time, energy, and money to send it off to a lab. Developing color film is a whole other world from developing black & white film, with different chemistry, techniques, and concerns. If you’ve developed color film before, this workshop is a great refresher on technique and will show you how to maximize the tools in Aurora’s darkroom. If this is your first time, or if you’ve only watched a couple videos online, the small size of this workshop makes it ideal for asking questions and getting comfortable with the process.

Please note: This workshop is for 35mm and 120mm color film only. 

Covered in the workshop:

* Loading film correctly onto plastic or metal reels
* Mixing color chemistry for success
* Knowing the importance of timing, temperature, and agitation
* Reading your negatives to select frames for printing
* Proper care, storage, and handling of negatives

All chemistry and equipment are included in the price of the workshop. During the workshop, you will develop one roll of 35mm and 120mm color film, dry it, and store it in a plastic negative sleeve ready to scan.

For more information and to register, click here or visit our Workshops page at auroraphoto.org.

This workshop will be taught by Carlos Perez. Aurora’s 2024 intern, Carlos is a Senior at Ball State University, where he will complete a BA in Photography with a minor in Computer Information Technology.

July 12, 1-4pm
Limited to 10 participants
Registration closes July 9 or when filled

Non-Members: $110
Aurora Members: $100
(Enter Member VIP code at checkout for discount)

Lumen is a type of cameraless photography made using the power of the sun. You place objects on photographic film or paper and then expose the composition to sunlight (or UV lights, if it's rainy), creating beautiful abstract images. Unlike many other darkroom-based processes, lumen prints are not monochromatic and often give surprising results due to their bright colors and dramatic hues that vary wildly based on the paper or objects used. Workshop leader Leni Wiegand will share her extensive archive of collected photographic papers and film, her experience, as well as tips and tricks with lumen prints, as we learn and create together with this fun and often variable process!

In this workshop, we will use a variety of expired photographic darkroom papers to learn the basics of the lumen process. In addition, we will experiment with both black + white and color 4 x 5 film to push the limits of the process further, capture even more vibrant colors, and see how transparency can impact the final result. We will also discuss how to digitize your work so that you can preserve it — many lumen techniques are not light stable, and this will also allow you to post and share your amazing lumens online. 

Read more about the workshop, and register to attend by clicking here.

July 10, 6-9pm

Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes July 7 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

Even if you’ve developed black & white film before, this workshop is a great refresher on technique and will show you how to maximize the tools in Aurora’s darkroom. If this is your first time, or if you’ve only watched a couple videos online, the small size of this workshop makes it ideal for asking questions and getting comfortable with the process.

Covered in the workshop:

* Loading film correctly onto plastic or metal reels
* Mixing black & white chemistry properly
* Learning the importance of timing, temperature, and agitation
* Reading your negatives to select frames for printing
* Proper care, storage, and handling of negatives

Read more about the workshop, and register to attend by clicking here.

Due to the July 4th Holiday, we’ll be celebrating our artists a day early, so start the weekend early with us with a rare First Thursday!

Juan Brenner’s series Genesis is filled with the beauty, aspiration, sanctity, and desire of the Guatemalan Highlands, where Brenner lives and works. In his images, as in the Highlands, traditional codes of power intermingle with a vibrant and vital youth culture, which mixes the ancient dress trajé with heavy metal t-shirts, ornate teeth art, and the ubiquitous cell phone. Published as a book in 2024 by Guest Editions, the large-scale prints in this exhibition of Genesis distill the grit, glamour, and always gold of the Highlands.

Brenner writes of his work: “For the last 5 years most of my work has been focused on understanding the complex phenomena pertaining to a very particular and important territory known as the Guatemalan Highlands. Starting from the Spanish invasion of Guatemala in the 16th century and its repercussions, then going through the imposed obscurantism that subdued and crushed the local reigns and finally a new colonial system that shifted the power balance in favor of the invaders, I've been garnering many ideas that have become key ingredients in my subject of research.

Genesis will be on view in Aurora’s Main Gallery until August 15.

In Aurora’s Efroymson Gallery, The Whole Preposterous Ideology features beautiful, layered, multi-media work by artist Leni Mae Wiegand, who uses photographic light boxes, paper scrolls, and electronics-based sculpture to evoke the digital realm as a safe space for exploration of gender and personal identity. Wiegand writes of their work: “Queer bodies, particularly trans bodies, are often labeled as something to be "fixed" — entities in a state of error, a glitch. However, glitches aren't inherently negative; they possess power against systems expecting certain outcomes and strength in defying those systems. By embodying ourselves through digital existence and the safety that digital spaces provide, we can resist growing transphobia in the United States and transcend laws seeking to strip away our rights. By embracing the label of glitch, we create digital havens — vital places for exploring gender expression and personal identity without fear of punishment. Through the safety they provide, digital realities often become more important and vibrant than our AFK (away from keyboard) existence.”

The Whole Preposterous Ideology will be on view through July 18.

So often in photography, we seek technical perfection over the actual output. It’s easy to obsess over the ideal camera settings, the sharpest lens, and the newest camera body. While fun and enjoyable in its own right, it's often really nice and rewarding to move away from that — to re-examine what makes a “perfect” image and challenge what a photograph “should be.”

In this workshop, we will shift away from the technical protection that we so often seek in photography and push our images beyond the normal bounds of editing utilizing databending. In databending, instead of editing the pixels of the images, you edit the code that makes it up, remixing and mashing it together in new ways creating entirely unique compositions.

We will explore how to do this utilizing programs like Audacity, note pad, and various hex editors, and how we can expand this even beyond photography into the realm of video and digital art.

During the workshop, participants will have the opportunity to view Leni Mae Wiegand’s exhibition, The Whole Preposterous Ideology, on view in Aurora’s Efroymson Gallery through July 18. Many works in the exhibition incorporate the use of databending, providing excellent examples of the process for consideration during the workshop.

Leni Mae Wiegand is a transfeminine lens-based artist. She received her MFA in Photography from Indiana University Bloomington in 2025 and her BA in Business Management from Benedictine University in 2022, along with their AAS in Photography from the College of DuPage in 2020.

For more information and to register, please click here or visit auroraphoto.org/workshops.

Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes June 25 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

If you’ve made a black & white print before, this workshop is a great refresher on technique and will show you how to maximize the tools in Aurora’s darkroom. If this is your first time, or if you’ve only watched a couple videos online, the small size of this workshop makes it ideal for asking questions and getting comfortable with the process.

Covered in the workshop:

* Selecting negatives to print
* Operating the enlarger, easel, grain focuser and other equipment
* Making a test strip
* Proper technique with the chemistry trays
* Care, storage, and handling of negatives and prints

All chemistry, paper, and equipment are included in the price of the workshop. During the workshop, you will create 1-3 prints.

For more information and to register, click here or visit our Workshops page at auroraphoto.org.

June 22, 1-4pm
Limited to 3 participants
Registration closes June 20 or when filled

Non-Members: $100
Aurora Members: Free, registration required, email to reserve your spot

More and more, photographers who shoot color film are opting to develop their own film rather than spending the time, energy, and money to send it off to a lab. Developing color film is a whole other world from developing black & white film, with different chemistry, techniques, and concerns. If you’ve developed color film before, this workshop is a great refresher on technique and will show you how to maximize the tools in Aurora’s darkroom. If this is your first time, or if you’ve only watched a couple videos online, the small size of this workshop makes it ideal for asking questions and getting comfortable with the process.

Please note: This workshop is for 35mm and 120mm color film only. 

Covered in the workshop:

* Loading film correctly onto plastic or metal reels
* Mixing color chemistry for success
* Knowing the importance of timing, temperature, and agitation
* Reading your negatives to select frames for printing
* Proper care, storage, and handling of negatives

All chemistry and equipment are included in the price of the workshop. During the workshop, you will develop one roll of 35mm and 120mm color film, dry it, and store it in a plastic negative sleeve ready to scan.

For more information and to register, click here or visit our Workshops page at auroraphoto.org.

This workshop will be taught by Carlos Perez. Aurora’s 2024 intern, Carlos is a Senior at Ball State University, where he will complete a BA in Photography with a minor in Computer Information Technology.