yes, there's chemical processing with ziatype... but no developing.. you use hypo clearing (one of many different clearing agents you can use) to remove the undeveloped platinum.
Printable View
yes, there's chemical processing with ziatype... but no developing.. you use hypo clearing (one of many different clearing agents you can use) to remove the undeveloped platinum.
I must respectfully disagree with much of what has been posted here in relation to the inherent qualities of the platinum print. It is not my personal observation that Weston’s platinum images of Neil from the 1920’s or of Tina Modotti or the steel works for that matter look like pencil sketches. Furthermore there are many many photographers both renowned and obscure who’s platinum work looks very much like photographs to me... Irving Penn & Kim Weston’s recent work comes to mind. The platinum/palladium emulsion has the capacity for an incredible tonal range with extraordinary luminosity... and there is the capacity for an exceptional delicacy of detail with the appropriate substrate.... naturally when the emulsion is used in tandem with textured art papers these qualities may be diminished to give the work the look that many describe here... but be assured there are many photographers taking the platinum process in new directions.
That said... the process is indeed cumbersome and time consuming and I long for the day when I can afford to have one of the wonderful master platinum printers out there craft my
photographs.... Cheers.
I saw some interesting 'platinum prints' this weekend. They were kallitypes that had been toned in platinum. The guy that showed them said you couldn't tell the difference, visually or chemically, between these and standard platinum prints. The big advantage was that they cost about 1/10 that of a standard plat print.
Whatever you do, be careful with potassium dichromate.
The guy that showed them said you couldn't tell the difference, visually or chemically, between these and standard platinum prints
This might have been a litte bit of an exaggeration. While the toning mechanism is one of replacement, it is not known if it proceeds to a 100%. The only way to know would be to digest the image off the paper and run some chromatography or mass spectometry on the resulting solution. So far as I know, nobody has done this.
Having said that, a tone kallitype can be very nice, but my experience was that it did not have as smooth a tonality as a true pt/pd print.
Eric,
I additon to what Jorge has stated, the cost savings are nowhere near as great as you have stated. On a typical pt/pd print, the cost of the paper is often equal to (and sometimes greater than) the cost of the coating solutions. So while an ag coating solution is a lot cheaper than pd or pt, the cost overall comes down only a bit, and you have increased the number of steps along the way.
I think doing a platinum toned kallitype approach is fine for a casual printer, but anyone serious about printing will forego the kalletype and print in the traditional pt/pd manner for the best possible output and greatest consistancy.
Bruce,
To answer your original question, I didn't like pt/pd printing when I tried it, I loved it. It has become my primary medium. There are many different aesthetic preferences out there, and many pt/pd printers like the fairly flat contrast of the 'traditional platinum aesthetic'. This is not the only way to print with pt/pd, and there are many pt/pd printers who print with plenty of snap and contrast in their images.
All it takes is to somewhat master the materials to be able to get the process to work the way you want (within the limits of the materials). Let me say that a 'traditional platinum aesthetic' print is not a representation of the limits of the medium by any imagination.
---Michael
I work exclusively in pt/pd. I find the process, once mastered, to be easier and more versatial than most silver processes. For instance, when developing in pyro I don't need a negative in a certain density range to print well with say.. Azo, (1.70 I think for grade 2 or 3) anyway what I mean is I can take a negative in a range of 1.30 to 1.90 and still print well with pt/pd. This is controlled by the mixture of metal salts. So I can emulse my paper to match my negative instead of worrying so much about matching the negative to the paper. By controlling these mixtures also gives you contrast control. With a good point light source such as a plate burner you can dodge and burn just as easy as you would a silver print. Annie is right, with pt/pd you have the capacity of great tonal range and luminosity. But keep in mind pt/pd printers don't look for dmax and dmin. We're looking for printable blacks. Where the pt/pd process separates itself from the rest is in the midtones. Here is where you see those beautiful mauves, creams and yellows. The fact also is that the emulsion is absorbed into the paper also lends to the extraordinary luminosity and at times will even appear almost 3d. I agree, it is not the most easy process to master but when one does the rewards are beyond words.
Ken you may want to try backing off your exposure times . A pt/pd print will have a dry down factor to consider when printing. I find this is usually around 10-15%.
Thanks Robert - I have seen what you mean.
But here I am referring to what some have termed "brilliance" or lack thereof. Some images look best in a semi-gloss finish, which can be attained with coating. Other images look best without any coating.
One thing I have grown to appreciate, is all genius and effort that has gone into pefecting photographic methods - what John called the "what the boys at Kodak, Ilford, et all, have been able to achieve during the 20th Century".
To that I would humbly add "plus all the girls, and the 19th Century as well".
The pt/pd process, once mastered, is much easier and less-time consuming than silver printing, despite what you may have heard. I've been printing pt/pd for over 15 years and have taught the process for 8 years. My workshop students most common feedback is that they are amazed that something they expected to be so difficult, was in fact, so easy! And, when purchased in some quantity, the cost of materials is very reasonable. I can make a 14x17 palladium print on a nice paper like Arches Platine for less than 5 bucks.
While I've known paulr for years and respect his opionions greatly, what he said about bodies of work done in pt/pd lacking vision, well that is true in every medium I've seen. And perhaps nowhere moreso than in the world of digital prints, where it's pretty easy to make an eye-popping print of basically nothing interesting. And I'm not "anti-digital". I do plenty of digital work, but love the hands-on aspects of pt/pd and now wet plate collodion.
I'm from the school of thought that the medium and the image carry equal weight in the final piece. I've never bought into "it's all about the image" thinking. I want a compelling image, but I also put great value on prints that have the photographers "fingerprints" on them. And not from opening a package of inkjet paper...
Paul - I wonder if you remember the medium more than the image with the processes and techniques that you listed because you have such a strong technical background and awareness of the processes and methods used, and are somewhat blinded by your hyper-awareness?
Ken I think I understand what you mean when you are referring to "brilliance". I have read about waxing and other attempts at coating but most were unsuccessful and most defeated the archival properties of the pt/pd print. My first question would be: Have you tried all the papers that are available for pt/ pd printing there are some very good ones out there and a few I've used provided very brillant results. By no means am I trying to discourage you from inventing some ground breaking archival wax or coating, heaven forbid I stand in the way of progress. Something along that line may even help preserve other less archival processes. So go for it. I'm just suggesting, exhausting all other means as far as searching for that brillant print in which you seek. You may even find that the pt/pd process doesn't meet your vision and move on to something else and that is ok too. But play with your mixtures and adjust your contrast with different papers . You'll find it's a lot of fun and it makes you more aware of what you can do in certain situations to get the most out of the process. It is a very versatial process. Look at what people like Kenro Izu is doing with his "Platinum Blue Series" Which is a platinum over cyan or vice versa process. But the main thing is have fun with it and don't get discouraged. Show me a platinum printer without a stack of work prints and I'll show you a guy that still has a lot to learn.