Light Work Lab is a member-supported, community-access photography makerspace for individuals pursuing artistic projects. Our facility in Syracuse, New York has been used by artists for over 40 years and our expert staff offer printing, scanning, and retouching services to artists located around the globe.
Originally founded in 1972 as Community Darkroom, our artist-oriented space offers members a digital lab with the highest quality printing and scanning equipment, black-and-white darkroom, and a lounge and library where artists from all over the world converge. Our facility has been used by over 400 of Light Work’s Artists-in-Residence, as well as countless members. Artists have printed for international exhibitions and collections, including Carrie Mae Weems, Dawoud Bey, Doug DuBois, Amy Elkins, Christian Patterson, Deborah Willis, Raymond Meeks, Zoe Strauss, John Gossage, and many more.
Our services include professional scanning and digital printing, as well as the area’s best educational opportunities. Our knowledgeable and creative staff are on duty to answer all your questions and help you make the most of our space in Central New York.
Everything at Light Work begins with membership. We encourage members of Light Work Lab to use the space in a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) manner. After a short orientation and equipment training, we offer members access to high-end printmaking at extremely low rates. The advantage of this methodology is artists learn a valuable skill set as well as get extremely affordable costs.
DIY Printing
We offer paper provided and client provided options for DIY printing. Our two papers that we stock for paper provided are photo weight Hahnemuhle Fiber Matte and Lexjet E-Satin. Maximum width for our media is 44 inches. Prints are always billed by final paper size, using the following calculation:
(Height x Width) x (Sq. in. price) = Cost of print.
Paper provided: $.026 / Sq. in.
Client provided paper: $.015 / Sq. in.
Stocked Matte Paper:
Hahnemühle Photo Matt Fibre 200gsm
Stocked Luster Paper:
DIY Lab
Equipment includes:
- M1 Mac Minis
- Color-calibrated Eizo monitors
- Adobe Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Lightroom Classic, Premiere Pro and Bridge
- Epson 5000 and 20000 (prints up to 64 inches wide)
- Canon Pro 4000 (prints up to 44 inches wide)
- Color managed workflow and custom paper profiles for stocked papers
- Large magnetic viewing walls
- 54” Rotatrim
- Guillotine paper cutter
- Spiral book binding machine
- Hot glue book binding machine
- Central compressed air
- Professional Hasselblad Flextight film scanners
- Epson 11000xl and V850 flatbed scanners
- Howtek 4500 Scanmaster drum scanner
- 4×5 Saunders enlarger with built-in filter system (up to 20 x 24 inches)
- Tray processing
- Archival print washers
- Negative dryer
- Drying racks for prints
Contact
services@lightwork.org
315-443-5907
Summer Hours
Monday – Friday 10-5
*Light Work closes at 5pm during Syracuse University Inter-Semester breaks. This includes Thanksgiving and Winter holiday sessions.
Review the SU Holiday Schedule for all holiday closings.