Something a little lighthearted for you from the folks over at ILFORD Photo in the UK. The company recently made a statement on the impact of COVID-19, which included the following important advisory:

“If you are tempted to stockpile rolls, we recommend ones that go into a camera. If you insist on paper, make it the type you can print on in the darkroom. If your bathroom is also your darkroom please don’t put our papers near your backside or try to flush them!”

A little humour in the face of everything that’s going on was very welcome – to me at least. The statement goes on to assure customers that: “…our factory currently remains operational. We will continue to manufacture and ship our products for as long as possible while we also look to safeguard the longer-term future of our business and the wider industry.”

In addition:

“This situation is rapidly evolving and we will continue to closely monitor and adhere to any advice issued by the UK government. Our principle concern, as always, is for the health and safety of our employees and customers but also those of our supporting global network of distributors, retailers and labs. All are likely to be impacted over the coming days, weeks and months.”

If you’ve ever interacted with ILFORD on social media, you’ll know that they’re an approachable bunch with a great sense of humour and they’re certainly not afraid of throwing a bit of shade from time to time. This from Feb 23rd 2018 (the day Kodak’s T-MAX P3200’s rerelease was announced):

Available in both 35mm and 120 formats.https://t.co/MVdTkbcwfU pic.twitter.com/UtiRSZUOPl — ILFORD PHOTO (@ILFORDPhoto) February 23, 2018

Cheeky.

You can check out the full announcement on Facebook or Twitter and at the very least, please heed their final note: “Finally, look after yourself, support those who are vulnerable and we will all get through this together.” If you’re looking for a TLDR: manufacturing and shipping will continue for as long as possible in-line with advice issued by the UK government.

Stay safe and if you’re looking for things to keep you occupied while you’re staying at home / enjoying life as an “artist in residence”, check out these suggestions to keep you creative and most importantly, SANE.

~ EM