Somewhere I read someone's rational why they preferred silver gelatin to ink prints.
Basically the ink prints , specifically glossy ,image detail would sit on the surface , rather than like silver gelatin sink into the emulsion.
Thus giving the viewer a different look, I prefer silver for this reason and agree with this persons take on the difference. The glossy ink prints that I make all do exhibit this difference . I prefer the look silver print.
Without this slight difference I believe ink gloss prints can be made to look every bit as vibrant as silver prints and vice versa.
One could argue that this sitting on the surface is not the case with matt prints, and I would agree with this as I have seen fantastic prints made at Cone Editions and compared to the silver prints of the same file that I made on my lambda, I would be hard pressed to pick a favourite version.
The only difference would be of course the Dmax that silver gloss paper will always win hands down over a matt ink print, and I do know someone will say that perceived black is what one is looking for, but I actually am talking about a real black that silver printers love.
A bit of an aside, personally I am more confident of silvers longevity than the ink prints, (my opinion only here) with no scientific data to back up my opinion, and this too is a factor for me when picking materials to work with.
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