What developing or printing technique makes these photographs for striking?

[Jac@stafford.net]

I agree that there's some kind of big overhead light source, but given the shots where the "perps" are wearing hats and there is good exposure on their shaded faces, I think there's an open flash of some kind at work,[...]

Good theory.

My bet is that the light source is skylight. The all-blue sensitivity of the film has the clear sky bouncing off the walls and floor, filling in nicely. Make a photo of granite outdoors, exclude the sky, and use a deep blue filter to see how well the shadows fill.

[Terry Christian]

I really don't think these are from albumen prints. Just this past weekend I was fortunate enough to see a photo exhibition entitled 'Shared Vision,' of photographs curated from the collection of two longtime collectors. Most of the greatest classic photographers of the 1900s were represented. Included were two albumen prints by Atget, dating from the 1890s-1900s. They were just as detailed as silver gelatin prints, but the shadows were a golden-brown color, not dark enough to be sepia.