The Spotted Pony
A gallery of fine art photography
presented by Dona Bollard and Billy Hyden
Historic Photographic Process
The Silver Gelatin Print
The primary media in which we choose to produce our artwork is the silver gelatin print. This type of photographic paper was invented in 1873 by Peter Mawdsley. Gelatin, an animal protein, is used as an emulsion, to bind light sensitive silver salts, usually silver bromides or silver chlorides, to a paper or other media. Unlike the albumen print, the gelatin print is a printout process, where after a brief exposure to to light and a negative in the darkroom enlarger, the print is immersed in chemicals to allow the image to develop fully. Gelatin silver prints replaced the albumen print by 1895 because they were much more stable, did not have a tendency to yellow, and were easier to produce.
After we have produced the black and white gelatin silver print, we sometimes bleach the print in a solution of Potassium Ferricyanide then tone the print with a solution of Thiocarbamide and Sodium Hydroxide to obtain the rich chocolate tones known commonly as Sepia.
Another darkroom method which we employ is know as the Sabatier Effect or Solarization. As early as 1857 William Jackson noted that exposing a partially developed photographic plate to light, then continuing its development to completion, would sometimes cause a reversal of tones, rendering the whole or part of the negative image as a positive. In summary, print solarization may be defined as a complete or partial reversal of tones in an exposed and partially developed emulsion when given a second light exposure and then developed to completion.
When the Sepia toning is used in conjunction with the solarization process, beautiful copper and bronze tones with brilliant white highlights are produced.
