platinum palladium printing
history
Throughout the history of photography, including daguerreotype, albumen, carbon, gravure, and most commonly, silver emulsions, platinum has always held a special place for master photographers.
A viable platinum printing process was invented and patented by William Willis in 1873, after which this became an increasingly popular method of photographic printing. Philippe Garner, the International Head of Photographs at Christes, has said “The beginnings of the serious use of platinum printing dates back to the late 19th century when photographers who saw themselves as primarily artists were very anxious to differentiate themselves from…lowly amateurs,”
However, with the advent of World War One, platinum was required for weapon manufacture, so all available platinum was used in the war effort and was unavailable to photographers. Although platinum was again obtainable after World War One, its price remained extremely high, with the result that platinum was largely forgotten, before the process was again revived by Irving Penn in the 1960s,
Platinum printing is carried on to this day by a small group of photographers, who print primarily for collectors and those who appreciate platinum’s permanence and its almost painterly characteristics.
the modern process
In spite of its significant extra labour and cost, platinum is often preferred for the photographer's most personal, special and rare images. Alfred Stieglitz referred to platinum as "the prince of media" and George Bernard Shaw stated that platinum is "on the extreme margin of photographic subtlety”.
The cost and availability issues with platinum thus also stimulated experimentation with palladium photography. This led to an understanding that platinum was one of a family of "platinum metals", where the closely-related elements platinum, palladium, iridium, osmium and rhodium share many similar physical and chemical properties. Palladium, which used to be less expensive than platinum and in better supply, was employed by a number of platinum printers for their work, with excellent results
Certain compounds of palladium were found to be nearly indistinguishable substitutes for platinum. Palladium, however, can produce a slightly more "warm" image, with a bit more contrast; and, in fact, photographers have learned to mix platinum and palladium together in varying proportions, to achieve even finer results than with either substance used alone.
Two aspects that make the platinum print so special, loved both by photographers and treasured by collectors and investors are beauty and permanence. The delicate, rich platinum tones range from warm black, to reddish brown, to expanded mid-tone grays that are unobtainable in silver prints. In the deepest shadows the platinum print still presents information; the platinum whites are delicate and the depth of the image is alive and three-dimensional.
The second aspect is the permanence of platinum prints. The platinum metals (platinum and palladium) are more stable even than gold, whereby a platinum image, that is properly made, can last for a thousand of years, probably outliving the paper it is printed upon.
the print
I’ve produced a range of limited edition prints using the platinum palladium process described above.
To create a print, I start by making an emulsion. To make the emulsion involves mixing small quantities of a sensitiser solution (ferrous oxalate) with solutions containing the platinum and palladium metals. This mixture is then hand coated onto a cotton rag paper using a special brush. The platinum/palladium mixture is sensitive to ultraviolet light and the process requires a contact print (the negative must be the same size as the desired print). During the development part of the process, the platinum and palladium becomes embedded within the fibers of the paper, which results in an image that is as permanent as the paper itself.
In some of my prints, I also add a coloured pigment layer to the paper before coating it with the emulsion, which gives a wonderful combination of the new and the old.
All images on this site are available to purchase as signed limited edition platinum prints, in a range of sizes. Please contact me for details and prices.