Chronicle Datebook feature from May 2025: How an Oakland photographer ditched film developing chemicals for everyday plants

Oakland photographer Beatrice Thornton remembers her initial sense of wonder at the alchemy of photography the first time she developed her own black-and-white film. It was the summer after her high school graduation from Marin Catholic, and Thornton was in Paris for a pre-college summer course before starting at New York University.

“It was my first time in a darkroom,” recalled the Mill Valley native, whose first solo show of plant-developed prints, “Balsamic Time,” is on view through May 10 at Small Works Projects on Potrero Hill. “Everyone talks about the magic of photography, and I felt like it’s true. It really is this magical process. Read more here on SF Chronicle website.