Nev stood in the red light staring down at the photo-reactive paper sliding back and forth as she agitated the developing solution.  Her head bobbed to the beat of 3 Doors Down which blasted in her ears from the ear buds connected to the iPod that was snugly tucked away in the back pocket of her jeans so the screen didn’t toss light on her work and ruin it.<br/><br/>She’d been in the darkroom for 6 hours already and it was only one in the afternoon.  After a ten hour day of playing with light and angles, a good portion of it assisted by Collin, she went to work developing the two rolls of 35mm film and the full load of medium format film she’d shot.  After that Nev crashed on the futon in her office for about three hours and then was right back at it.  It was pressure from her boss driving her to the pace, but her own muse and curiosity.  She was never able to sit on film.  Once it was shot she wanted to dive right into developing.  Just before crashing last night she put the negatives in the drying cabinet.  Now she was turning those negatives into prints and Collin was due back any minute to look at the prints and give his input.<br/><br/>Nev valued Collin for his ability to be a photo assistant, model and give helpful critiques.  He understood the madness of the artist and the drive to capture that perfect image.  He also understood the work that took as he himself was an artist in his own right.<br/><br/>In the hallway outside the darkroom the red light was on signaling that anyone entering should do so with care.  Her darkroom was protected from the lights in the hall and her studio by two doors and a heavy light blocking black curtain between them.  The bright light of the sunny afternoon was currently blocked by black velvet curtains she had installed over the floor to ceiling glass windows that made up two walls of her studio.  She’d closed the curtains the previous day to have total control over her light sources.  She’d set out to study and play with light on both the female form, using her own body and the male form, using Collin’s body.  A delicious body if she ever saw one.<br/><br/>Finally the picture began to show.  This one was of Collin.  His arms were tied behind his back and he was looking away from the camera.  Nev had put a hand in front of the single light source to manipulate the shadows and it had given the effect of a dark hand caressing his torso.  It tossed deep pools of shadow in the valleys of his well defined six pack.  She watched as the black and darker gray portions of the photograph filled in, studying it hard to time the evacuation from the developer just right.