About
Mara Ellison prints what she shoots.
Lumen & Grain is her darkroom and sitting room in Alfama. She works in Lisbon and wherever the train goes, on 35mm and 120.
Since 2014
The ground floor.
The room was a tile workshop. The sink was already the right size, which felt like a sign and was mostly luck. Nuno Pires still runs the wash. Mara still meters with a handheld and a habit of underexposing walls.
Neighbours come down for the shelf on Thursdays. Everyone else writes first.
Ledger
A short history of the room.
- 2014
Rented the ground floor of a tile workshop in Alfama. The sink was already big enough.
- 2017
First numbered edition. Twelve prints of a stair, sold mostly to neighbours.
- 2019
Stopped delivering digital files as the finished thing. The print became the picture.
- 2023
North Atlantic. Two weeks of weather, one suitcase of film, no laptop on the boat.
- 2026
The shelf is open on Thursdays. The darkroom is still by appointment, shoes off if it rains.
The darkroom
Rua dos Lagares 18
1100-286 Lisboa. Ground floor of a former tile workshop. Thursday–Saturday, by appointment. Shoes off if it has been raining — the floor shows every drop.
- Call
- +351 910 000 184
- Hours
- Thursday–Saturday, by appointment
- Silver gelatin, warmtone, and Hahnemühle Photo Rag.
- Printer
- Mara Ellison, with Nuno Pires on the wash.