2025-10-31-accounts

Company registration number.. 14383513 Charity registration number.. 1209088 THE SUSTAINABLE DARKROOM LTD TRUSTEES, REPORT AND UNAUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 OCTOBER 2025 I Hate Numbers

The Sustainable Darkroom LTD Contents Page Trustees, Report Independent Examiner's Report statement of FlnancSal ActlvStles Ilncludlng Income and Expendlture Accounti Balance Sheet Notes to the Financial Statements 10-13 The following pages do not form part of the statutory accounts.. Detailed Statement of Financial Activities lincluding Incorne and Expenditure Account) 14-15

ARTIST-LED, RESEARCH COMMUNITY DEVELOPING - LOW TOXICITY CHEMISTRIES AND PRACTICES IN PHOTOGRAPHY

Annual Trustees Report

The Sustainable Darkroom is an artist-led research community dedicated to developing low-toxic practices in photography. This Annual Trustees Report sets out our activities achievements, and financial position for years 2024-2025.

SNAPSHOT

A YEAR OF DEEPENING LOCAL ROOTS AND EXPANDED INTERNATIONAL REACH

From international conferences and exhibitions, to new workshops and community initiatives within the UK - we continue to be at the forefront of research in photography and the environment.

1200+

Books sold and distributed worldwide

200

This report shows we remain committed to advancing our goals of sustainable photographic practice and environmental education, in what has been a particularly active and impactful year.

New members to our Patreon community

1000+

Workshop and event attendees

OVERVIEW OF MAIN ACTIVITIES

Launch of ‘Back to Basics Vol. I: A Guide to Ecological Photo Chemistry’

• This book, Sustainable Darkroom’s fourth publication, was written by our long-time collaborator, Andrés Pardo of CuriosoLab . It provides an insight into his years of research while offering readers recipes and techniques that promote the use of sustainable practices within photography. The launch was held in Andrés’ home country of Uruguay, at the Catholic University of Uruguay on the 26th of November, with Hannah present on behalf of Sustainable Darkroom and to give talks to advance our charitable aims around the world.

Release of ‘Back to Basics Vol. II: Extended Recipes for Ecological Photo Chemistry’

• This second volume of Andrés’ research, our fifth publication, delves deeper into lowtoxicity photographic developers and offers readers insightful tips, innovative techniques, and unique recipes including Muddy developer built entirely from household natural ingredients, and sugar-based developers with extremely long shelf lives.

• We had a free online book launch with 50+ attendees worldwide with a Q&A session with Andrés, Hannah, and Edd. Online launches are especially important as it makes the event, research, and discussion accessible for our global community of cultural practitioners. Hannah travelled to New York in September to launch the book at Mono No Aware ’s plantbased photography conference. Here, Hannah also led a panel discussion at the Centre of Fiction with Andrés, Adrian Cousins (a prominent UK-based filmmaker and amateur chemist) as well as Dr. Scott Williams of Rochester Institute of Technology , the inventor of Caffenol. Having a prominent session at such a highly regarded international conference helped to spread our research and charitable work to an even greater audience, promoting the aim of sustainable photography in the USA, where previously it had been lacking.

‘Sustainable Photography?’ Conference

• In collaboration with Falmouth University’s Institute of Photography , we curated and cohosted the world’s first conference presenting research into sustainable photographic techniques and pedagogy from the 2nd to 4th of July in Falmouth, Cornwall. Over 30 speakers from the UK, Europe, Australia, South Africa, and North America presented their research to over 100 attendees, with workshops by the Sustainable Darkroom and others, as well as an art exhibition and research poster presentation.

• This was a transformative step for our charity by working with a reputable photography University, to spread awareness of our work and to have the opportunity to learn from such a diverse range of artists and researchers. This further solidified our organisation’s work within academia as a valuable learning source to present and future staff and students. There was also a film screening in the Fish Factory, an independent venue in Falmouth, as part of the wider conference activities with Edd as co-curator.

Kestle Barton Residence

• This week-long residency in Helford, Cornwall, was used by Hannah and Edd to research and test new recipes and processes for copper and iron emulsions, copper chloride reversal as well as developing alternatives to animal gelatines for silver emulsions. This continual research and development lies at the heart of Sustainable Darkroom’s charitable mission in order to always be at the forefront of sustainable photography.

• With Make It Better CIC, a local organisation supporting individuals with social prescribing needs, we then hosted free and accessible workshops exploring the above techniques to great success and positive feedback.

‘ My Work Here Is Done’ Exhibition in Finland

• Hannah, Edd and Alice were commissioned by Luovake (The Centre for Creative Photography in Jyväskylä) to present a photographic exhibition which took a critical stance on materials in photography, open to the public from the 8th of May to 29th of June at the Galleria Ratamo , Jyväskylä.

• We installed the exhibition and also hosted a number of workshops and events, around including: a filmmaking workshop developing Super 8 in low-toxicity developers, soil chromatography, sustainable thinking, and finally a in-depth 2-day ‘Composting Chemistry’ workshop at Filmverkstaden in Vaasa, Finland (May 17-18).

• Further, from an Open Call for short films exploring the theme of ecology - whether through their materials, concept or both - we curated and screened the ‘Blurred Ecologies: A Night of Moving Image’ event in conjunction with the exhibition at a local cinema in Jyväskylä. The event included a panel discussion and Q&A session with Edd Carr from Sustainable Darkroom, philosopher and activist Elisa Aaltola, and filmmaker Blake Knecht.

Further Group Exhibitions

• We have been lucky enough to be invited to exhibit our research and artworks at multiple international galleries over the years which is a fantastic opportunity to promote our charitable work by presenting our sustainable photographic practices to a wider audience. This year, other exhibitions include:

• ‘Touch of Nature’ at the Municipal Gallery in Bydgoszcz, Poland from the 23rd of January until the 23rd of March, 2025.

• ‘Beyond Visual: Aperture as Earth’ for Rotterdam Art Week 2025 at Keile Contemporary from March 27th to 30th, 2025.

‘ - Bury After Reading: The Afterlife of Images Collected Writings

• This year we were awarded a grant of £1500 from the Richard and Siobhan Coward Foundation to publish our sixth book. This new publication represents a distinct turning point for our charity beyond the sustainable recipes and techniques that we have been initially focusing on, towards more theoretical and future-focused ideas.

• Through an Open Call, we invited practitioners to contribute written pieces that challenge existing structures of image-making, with a focus on working towards a sustainable future. We received over 340 submissions from all corners of the globe and, after an extensive reviewing process, settled on 11 authors that will collectively interrogate the future of photography as well as the environmental, social, and political afterlives of photographs. We are currently in the final editing stages for this project, and we strongly believe it will effectively promote sustainability and advance education, while provoking further discussion about the future of photography and how it should look.

- The Production and Release of Our On Demand Workshop Series

• All of our workshops to date, both in person and online, have been live events. However, this may not suit everyone who wants to participate, due to work, care commitments, or even the fact that they live overseas - finding it hard to make the timezones work. Because we are determined to advance education in environmental photography, we wanted our charitable work to be available to people who were unable to participate.

• As such, we developed on-demand videos for people to purchase and pursue in their own time, at their own pace, from anywhere in the world. The workshops cover plant-based developers, salt-based and alternative photographic fixers, managing waste in photography, as well as a course bridging the gap between developing an ecological art practice and project planning and funding.

• We also gave people the option to have a 1:1 online session with one of our educators, to review the initial tests and troubleshoot any problems that they encountered.

The Year’s Workshops in Review

Bristol Workshop Week

• We hosted our annual workshop week at Bristol’s Folk House Darkroom in the first week of September. Teaching a diverse range of techniques, it also included entirely new workshops such as ‘Plant-Based Colour Image-Making and Printing’ and the ‘Semi-Solid Muddy developer for both film and prints’.

• We had over 35 participants over the week, some travelling internationally from Canada and Kuwait. We also offered the ‘Alternative Photographic Fixatives’ workshop as a livestreamed event in order for the many people on the waiting list and others not able to travel to access from the comfort of their homes.

• We re-screened the ‘Blurred Ecologies: A Night of Moving Image’ film event at the Folk

• House to a UK audience, following the success of the initial screening in Finland.

‘Slow Photography Online’ series of workshops

• Our Slow Photography series are extended online workshops delving deep into a variety of themes and techniques over multiple sessions. They all proved extremely popular, with over 100 attendees responding with positive feedback.

• Workshops covered ‘Ideas of Ethics and Ecology’ in collaboration with The Photo Ethics Centre , and ‘Implanting Ecological Practice into Project Planning & Funding’, to more hands-on workshops like Edd’s ever-popular cyanotype animation. It was encouraging to see the positive ecological impact this series has made by transforming artists’ practice to be more sustainable across the board.

analogueNOW! Festival

• Hannah was invited by the festival, which took place in Berlin from May 23rd to the 25th, to give a lecture on ‘Ecology & Image’ as well as lead workshops on making and working with plant-based developers and soil chromatography.

We have also led many other workshops throughout the year in the UK and Europe including:

• A full day workshop for Berlin Arts University around ‘Navigating through landscape, analogue photography on the move’. Here students were responsible for constructing all aspects of the production of the image: from the camera, to the darkroom, to the chemistry.

• A year-long silver reclamation project with LABO BxL as well as the delivery of a two-day intensive workshop on silver emulsions, silver reclamation and salt printing at their lab in Brussels, delivered in collaboration with CuriosoLab .

• Four workshops for the National Trust at Lacock Abbey. These were part of our ongoing work with Lacock Abbey to develop their site and gardens into an active site of research, drawing on the historical photographic research produced by Henry Fox Talbot while living there. During the workshops we worked with some of the trees that Fox Talbot had planted in the garden and connected histories of photography with contemporary research into lower-toxicity methods. A separate workshop at Lacock Abbey for Kandu Arts .

• Phytogram and Muddy chemigram workshops for The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as part of their ‘Routes to Roots’ day of discussions and workshops aimed at integrating plant humanities into institutions via artistic practice.

• A herbal-tea image-making workshop as part of Bristol Experimental Expanded Film ’s 10-year anniversary celebration.

• A chemigram workshop at Studio Monde and 318 Art Lab , London.

• A workshop for Bedford College .

• A workshop for Westminster University as part of their ‘Sustainability Month’.

• Delivery of training for staff at Merseyside Studios . We supported them through online consultation, followed by a full day in-person at their space, where Hannah shared her expertise in local low-toxicity developers and waste management systems that could be implemented in their new community darkroom.

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ACHIEVEMENTS

In the past year, we have sold over 1200 books - 851 physical books and 391 of the digital versions. Many of these books have gone to universities and libraries across the world including; Bodliean Libraries , UAL Libraries , Bournemouth Arts University , University of Western England , Glasgow School of Arts , Falmouth University , Kingston University , Architectural Association , Mono No Aware ’s New York Library, Photo Book Cafe , University of Montevallo , University of Sydney , Photo Access , and the Peckham Book Fair .

The large amount of sales of our publications as well as their stock in public libraries around the world furthers our charity’s purposes of promoting sustainable practice and advancing education in the field which has in turn made an overwhelmingly positive difference to our beneficiaries, both direct and indirect.

Sustainable Darkroom has supported over 10 funding applications by individuals seeking to lower the toxicity of their practice. This directly benefits these artists who are looking to make a positive ecological impact with the making of their art.

We were also very pleased to have been awarded a £1500 grant from the Richard and Siobhan Coward Foundation for our upcoming sixth book, ‘Bury After Reading: The Afterlife of Images - Collected Writings’. This grant will go towards paying the writers in order to properly compensate them for their work and creative output. While this directly benefits the writers, it also indirectly supports our community and the wider arts environment by standing as an example of payment to artists for their work.

We have had over 200 new Patreon members of the past year - 52 paid memberships and 165 free. This brings our active membership to 433 in total with 113 of these paid memberships and 320 free. Our Patreon helps us further our charitable work by being a thriving online community that directly contributes to our work. At the same time, it acts as a tool to communicate events and disseminate research, as well as hosting internal events and discourse between members, always having a consistent and positive impact on our beneficiaries.

Sustainable Darkroom has had a number of articles written about our charitable work including; an interview and feature in Source Magazine , another interview and feature in Art Studies Magazine of the Screen Arts Department of the Institute of Art Studies, Sofia, Bulgaria as well as an article about our charity in Photo Monitor by Laura Bivolaru.

Lastly, our work with the National Trust at Lacock Abbey has resulted in a Sustainable Darkroom interpretation panel being installed in their Botanical Garden in Lacock. This is something that we are extremely proud of as it tangibly connects Sustainable Darkroom with the history of photography. Moreover, it serves to educate a wide and varied audience in the work of our charity and, most importantly, in the preservation, conservation and protection of the environment through sustainable photographic practices.

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The Sustainable Darkroom LTD Trustees. Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025 Reference and Administrative Details Trustees J Bradford N T Lebon ILGane MKKing Charity Number 1209088 Company Number 14383513 Registered Office Flat 4, 117 High St Marske-by-the-sea Redcar TSII 61X Independent Examiner I Hate Numbers FCCA l Hate Nutnber5 ACCA 29-35 Forester Building st. Nicholas Place Lelcester Leicestershire LEI 4LD Page 5

The Sustainable Darkroom LTD Trustees. Report (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025 Small Company Rules This report has been prepared in accordance with the special pmvisions relating to companies subject to the small companies reglme withln Part 15 of the Companles Act 2006. The tru5tees' report wa5 approved by the board of tru5tee5 signed on it5 behalf bv.. JLGane Truste 0810712026 Page 6

The Sustainable Darkroom LTD Independent Examiner's Report to the Trustees of The Sustainable Darkroom LTD For The Year Ended 31 October 2025 I report to the charity trustees on my examination of the accounts of the Cornpany for the year ended 31 October 2025. Responsibilities and Bèsis of Report A5 the charity trustees of the Company land a150 it5 directors for the purpose5 of company lawl, you are re5pon5ible for the preparation of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 I-the 2006 Act"). Havlng satlsfled myself that the accounts of the Company are not required to be audlted under Part 16 of the 2006 Act and are eligible for independent examination, I report In respect of my examination of your charity s accounts as carried out under section 145 of the Charities Act 2011 I'the 2011 Act'l. In carrying out my examination I have followed the Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145151 Ibl of the 2011 Act. Independent Examiner's Statement I have completed my examination. I confirm that no matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe.. l. accounting records were not kept In respect of the Company as required by section 386 of the 2006 Act,. or 2. the account5 do not accord with those record5,' or 3. the accounts do not comply with the accounting requirements of section 396 of Ihe 2006 Act other than any requirement that the attounts give a 'true and fair vlew, whith Is not a matter consldered as part of an Independent examination. or 4. the 8ccounts have not been prepared in accordance with the methods and principles of the Statement of Recommended PTrctice for accounting and reporting by charities applicable to charities preparing their accounts i accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland IFRS 1021. I have no concerns and have come acm5s no other rnatter5 in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. l Hate Nurnbers FCCA 08107/2026 29-35 Forester Building St. Nicholas Place Leicester Lelcestershlre LEI 4LD Page 7

The Sustainable Darkroom LTD Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025 2025 Unrestrlcted Restrlcted funds funds Total funds Notes INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM: Donations and legacies Charitable activities.. Book sales Shipping and delivery income Training income Workshops Investments 2,698 1,500 4,198 75,621 2,815 155 75,621 2,815 155 3,731 3,731 85,028 1,500 86,528 EXPENDITURE ON: Raising funds Charitable activities.. 167,4731 167,4731 other 376 376 167,0971 167,0971 NET INCOME 17,931 1,500 19,431 NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS 17,931 1,500 19,431 RECONCILIATION OF FUNDS: Total funds brought forward 11,116 11,116 TOTAL FUNDS CARIUED FORWARD 12 29,047 1,500 30,547 The notes on pages 10 to 13 form part of these financial statements. Page 8

The Sustainable Darkroom LTD Balance Sheet As At 31 October 2025 2025 Unrestricted Restricted funds funds Total funds Notes CURRENT ASSETS stocks 9,052 8,269 17,573 9,052 8,269 17,573 Debtors io Cash at bank and in hand 34,894 34,894 Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One Year li (4,3471 14,3471 NET CURRENT ASSETS (LIABILITIES) 30,547 30,547 TOTAL ASSETS LESS CURRENT LIABILITIES 30,547 30,547 NET ASSETS 30,547 30,547 FUNDS OF THE CHARITY Restricted Funds 1,500 29,047 Unrestricted Funds TOTAL FUNDS 12 30,547 For the year ending 31 October 2025 the charitable company was entitled to exemption from audit under section 477 of the Companie5 Act 2006 relating to srnall cotnpanie5. The rnetnber5 have not required the cotnpany to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Companies Act 2006. The trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for complying with the requirements of the Act with respect to accounting record5 and the preparation of accounts. These accounts have been prepa￿d in accordance with the provisions applicable to companies subjett to the srnall companie5 regime. On behalf or the board JLGane Trustee 0810712026 The notes on pages 10 to 13 fomi part of these financial statements. Page 9

The Sustainable Darkroom LTD Notes to the Financial Statements For The Year Ended 31 October 2025 l. General Information The Sustainable Darkroom LTD is a company lirnited by guarantee, incorporated in England & Wales, regISte￿d nurnber 14383513 and registered charity nutnber 1209088. The registered office is Flat 4, 117 High St, Marske-by-the-sea, Redcar, TSII 6JX. Accountlng Pollcles 2.1. Ba$1$ of Preparation of Financial Statements The financial statements have been prepared in occordance with the Charities SORP IFRS 1021 "Accounting and Reporting by Charities.. Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordante with the Financial Reporting Standard applitable in the UK and Republic of Irèland IFRS 1021 leffectlve I January 20191 Financial Reporting Standard 102 'Yhe Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland" and the Companies Act 2006. The charitable company is 3 Public Benefit Entity as defined by FRS 102. 2.2. Incoming Resources Recognition of income Incorne is included in the Staternent of Financial Activitie5 ISOFAI when the charity become5 entitled to, and virtually certain to receive, the income and the amount of the income can be measured with Sufficient reliability. Income with related expenditure Where income has related expenditure the income and related expenditure is reported gross in the SOFA. Donations and legacies Voluntary income received by way of grants, donations and gifts Is included in the the SOFA when receivable and only when the Charity has unconditional entitlement to the Income. Donated servi￿5 and facilities These are only included in income (with an equivalent amount in expenditure) where the benefit to the Charity Is asonably quantifiable, measurable and material. 2.3. Resources Expended Recognition of expenditure Expenditure is recognised on an accrual's basis. Expenditure includes any VAT which cannot be fully recovered and is ported as part of the expenditure to which it relates. Expenditure on raising funds These comprise the cost5 aSSOCiated with attracting voluntary incotne, fundraising trading cost5 and investment management costs. Expenditure on charitable activities These tomprise the costs incurred by the Charlty in the dellvery of Its activltles an¢ servlces In the furtherance of its objects, Including the making of grants and governance costs. Other expenditure These are support costs not allocated to a particular activity. 2.4. stocks and Work in Progress stocks and work In progress are valued at the lower of cost and net reallsable value after maklng due allowance for obsolete and slow-moving stocks. Cost is determined using the first-in, first-out method. Cost includes all direct costs and an appropriate proportion of fixed and variable overheads. Work in progress is reflected in the accounts on 3 contract by contract basis by recording turnover and related costs as contract activity progresses. At the end of each reporting period Stocks are assessed for irnpairment. If an itern of stock is impaired, the identified stock 15 reduced to its selling price less COSt5 to complete and Sell and an impairment charye 15 recogni5ed in the statement of financial activities. Where a revetsal of the impaimient is reouiod the impairment charge is reversed, up to the original impairment loss, and is recognised as a credit in rhe statement of Financial acrivities. Page 10

The Sustainable Darkroom LTD Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025 2.5. Cash and Cash Equivalents Cash and cash equivalents are basic financial a55et5 and include cash in hand and deposits held at call with banks, other short-tertn highly liquid investments that mature in no more than th￿e months frotn the date of acqui51tion and are readily Convertible to a known amount of cash with insignificant risk of change in value, and bank overdrafts. Income trom Donatlons and Legacle$ 2025 Unrestrlcted Restrlcted Total funds funds funds Donations and gifts Grants 2,698 2,698 1,500 1.500 2,698 1,500 4,198 Income from Donations and Legacies include gift in kind accounting services of £1,200 inc. VAT The following g￿ntS are included within the total income from donations and legacies above.. 4. Investment Income 2025 Unrestricted funds Bank interest receivable 5. Analysis of Expenditure 2025 Activities undertaken dlrectly Support ¢o$ts (see note 61 Total Raising fund5 49,831 17,642 67,473 6. Support Costs 2025 Ralsing funds Etnployee cost5 Premises expenses General administration 1,425 375 12,886 856 Interest payable Governance costs 2,100 L7,642 Page 11

The Sustainable Darkroom LTD Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025 7. Independent Examiner's Remuneration Independent examiners fees 2025 Independent exarnination of the financial statements 900 8. Average Number of Employees Average number of ernployees during the year was.. NIL 9. Stocks 2025 Stock 9,052 10. Debtors 2025 Due wlthln one year Trade debtors 1,354 6,915 Other debtors 8,269 11. Creditors: Amounts Falling Due Within One Year 2025 Trade creditors 389 Bank loans and overdrafts 1,457 2,501 Accruals and deferred income 4,347 12. Movement in Funds As¥ti November 2024 A$at31 October 2025 Income Expendlture Unrestricted funds General.. General unrestricted fund 11,116 85,028 167,0971 29,047 Restricted funds Richard and Siobhan Foundation 1.500 1,500 Total funds 11,116 86,528 (67,0971 30,547 13. Transactions with Trustees During the year the expenses reimbursed to the trustees or paid directly to third parties were as follows.. Page 12

The Sustainable Darkroom LTD Notes to the Financial Statements (continued) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025 2025 14. Related Party Disclosures 15. Company limited by guarantee The company is limited by guarantee and has no share capital. Every member of the company undertakes to contribute to the assets of the company, in the event of a winding up, such an arnount as may be required not eX￿edIng £1. Page 13

The Sustainable Darkroom LTD Detailed Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account) For The Year Ended 31 October 2025 2025 Total funds INCOME AND ENDOWMENTS FROM: Donations and legacies Donations and gifts Grants 2,698 1,500 4,198 Charitable Activities: Book Sales Book sales 75,621 75,621 Shipping and delivery income Shipping and delivery incone 2,815 2,815 Tralnlng Income T￿in1rng income Educational Licence 55 loo 155 Workshops Workshops 3,731 3,731 Investments Bank interest receivable 86,528 EXPENDITURE ON.. Raising funds Exhibitlon/Screenlng fee Teaching fee Materials 12,5861 122,1201 {3031 114,4371 110,3851 1331 11,3921 {3751 {1351 14, 1961 12,8381 {1091 12,5841 12,0131 {8021 1621 ..CONTINUED Freelancer costs Other direct costs staff training Travel and subsistence expenses Rent Computer software, consumables and maintenan Postage Advertising and marketing costs Legal fees Consultancy fees Royalties and licence fees payable Bank charges Entertaining Page 14

The Sustainable Darkroom LTD Detailed Statement of Financial Activities (including Income and Expenditure Account) {continued} For The Year Ended 31 October 2025 Sundry expenses Bank Revaluations {1481 (8561 {9001 11,2001 Bank charge5 Independent exarninerf5 fees Accountanry fees 167,4731 Other Refunds 376 376 167,0971 NET INCOME 19,431 Page 15