Andrew Dawson's blog

The era of the film laboratory is over. In the early 1960s, British film laboratories employing 6000 people, processed millions of feet of film for newsreels, studios, advertisers, and television. Labs were big and small with such names as Colour Film Services, Kodak, Technicolor, as well as Henderson, Humphries, Kay’’s Pathe and Rank film laboratories. Some were household names. As memory fades so might our understanding of the vital importance of film labs disappear.

On 14 December 2016 the History Project screened our documentary, Women in West London Film Laboratories. The documentary is of particular interest to members because it draws upon interviews from the History Project collection, as well as archival footage and interviews we conducted. For those who weren't at the meeting here is a link. Do let us have your comments.

WOMEN IN WEST LONDON FILM LABORATORIES, 1960-2000 (ANDREW DAWSON AND SEAN P. HOLMES, 2016) 39 minutes

Women in West London Film Laboratories documents the bittersweet experience of women in West London film laboratories. It is the first and might be the last attempt to visually record the lives of lab women.