Hello:

Although people say silver gelatin is just a fancy term for b/w photo, what do you call the processes where people apply an emulsion with a brush to other substrates, like perhaps watercolor paper?

Someone recently showed me some 4 x 5 palladium prints, and I didn't think to ask whether that was a printing technique used with conventional negatives, or if it was a paper negative type of process - used as film in a camera.

For very large format (11 x14 and larger), are there any economical processes to hand apply silver-based chemistry to paper?

I have a large pinhole application in mind (18" x 24" bellows) and perhaps might try a simple homebrew lens with it someday.

Newspaper film is one option I'm considering (14" x 25").

Thanks

Murray

-- Murray Leshner (murray@uptowngallery.org), December 11, 2001

Answers

Murray, if I understand your question correctly, yes, you can use paper or film negatives, contact printing them on brushed on emulsions. Liquid Light is one such emulsion, which I believe is silver based.

I have a 16x20 pinhole camera and use paper negatives with it.

chris

-- Christian Harkness (chris.harkness@eudoramail.com), December 11, 2001.

There is a good article here:http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Light/ light.html having to do with alternative light sources. Typically, this is how you print with alternative except liquid light which is projection speed (done under an enlarger). Kallitypes (iron based if I'm not mistaken) and the more expensive but very similiar process of palladium/platinum are done under these light sources or the sun. If you go the main page of Unblinking Eye, you will find alot of info also. There is actually ALOT of info on the net about alternative including this site we're on.

-- Scott Walton (scotlynn@shore.net), December 11, 2001.

"what do you call the processes where people apply an emulsion with a brush to other substrates, like perhaps watercolor paper"

These fall under the generic term "alternative processes." Among the more popular ones are platinum/palladium printing, cyanotypes, kallitypes, Van Dyke Brown prints and others.

All these processes are contact prints. The negative is the exact size of the print. You can you in camera film, paper or lith film as a negative.

Economical alternative processes for 11 x 14 or larger is probably the cyanotype. It is more recognized by its' common name, "blueprint."

Yes, you can use lith film for printing plates to make these large negatives.

"Keepers of the Light" is a good source for information on these old processes.

-- Joe Lipka (JoeLipka@cs.com), December 11, 2001.

One of the simplest and most rewarding alternative processes is known as Van Dyke Brown. There is an article on it on my web site at http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Vandyke/vandyke.html. Related processes are the Kallitype and Argyrotype.

-- Ed Buffaloe (edb@unblinkingeye.com), December 12, 2001.

Murry,

The platinum process used most often actually contains palladium, or a mix of platinum and palladium. Either way, the paper is coated using a brush or coating rod.

The negatives used for this process can be in camera negs or enlarged negs. The main problem with using negs developed to print on silver paper is that the pt/pl process needs much more dense negatives to take full advantage of the extended tonal range of the process.

I make enlarged negatives from 6x7 negs by making a 4x5 positive on ortho film and then make the final contact neg using lith film developed in PMK Pyro. All this sounds complicated, but it really isn't that hard if you want to do some research.

If you want to get into this process, go to Bostich & Sullivan on the web. They offer kits to get you started. They have a Ziatype kit, which is a Print out Process using platinum or palladium. They also have the book, The New Platinum Print which is an excellent guide to making your first neg and print. I also recommend you order step wedges from them so you can fine tune your begs without the hassel and cost of always printing them to see the result. The people at B & S are a wealth of information on all sorts of alternative or historical processes and they have the chemicals you need.

-- Allen Friday (alfriday@metc.net), February 01, 2002.

Silver gelatin is the museum approved term for b/w photos as it describes the material substance of the print. If you look at any survey of 19th century silver gelatin photographs you'll see red , cream, blue, brown, green, yellow, red... I have brownish, purplish and greenish contemporary prints. Not a lot of black and white around if you define black as 'absence of light' and white as 'presence of entire visible spectrum'.

Liquid Light on watercolour paper is in museum terms described as 'photographic emulsion on rag paper'. [Museums don't usually use proprietry names to describe prints although I have noticed with new digital media the odd one is creeping in.] If you live in the US Liquid Light is not expensive to use [and I wouldn't describe 11 x 14 as large format, I've seen whole rooms coated in the stuff] but you should size your paper to stop it sucking up too much emulsion if cost is a concern.

-- rebecca (rebecca@antart.com.au), February 08, 2002.