Contact Printing ~ Bromide Papers

For whatever reasons at the time, I was enticed by the warm tones of the chloride papers. The tonal range for those papers tended to be longer than for most bromide papers. As most know, silver gelatin papers have a rather short tonal range compared to a negative, perhaps fifty tonal gradations compared to hundreds potentially for a negative. Bromide papers are a bit shorter scaled than chloride papers, which are also a bit slower than bromide papers.

It was those warm tones that reminded me of the old palladium prints of the ancients around the turn of the century, nineteen century. I confess I did truly love the deep rich blacks that could be had using a bromide paper, which I'm sure is what captivates many black and white printers. I imagine bringing up contact printing to photographers today is like discussing the awesomeness of finely made horse bridles or hula hoops. What can I say, they are beautiful, and I would argue not the same finished appearance as a projected enlargement of the same image, side by side. The contact print is going to win that comparison hands down. So why is the world would anyone today want to do it when there is digital printing, when in fact that is precisely the reason, because it is now easy to print an enlarged digital negative, and for contact printing on silver gelatin papers, no need for altering the negative before printing. Although... I would tell you that tweaking the negative to make it sing is also another benefit of this method.

One of the photographers that was brought up for study and exaltation when I was studying the craft was Edward Weston, and his penchant for simplicity. Like his eventual discarding of a light meter to rely upon the light falling on his hand, either in shade or sunlight, for deciding the setting for his shot, as well as the development of the negative. His primary method was through inspection during development, and that, is amazing. For printing, he used a hanging bare bulb for contact printing to bromide papers, using Amidol, for what he believed were unmatched blacks. His "Pepper" print still hangs in the one room cabin in Carmel that his grandson now lives in. That print is now worth $1.2 million.

Being I'm rambling on about contact printing I'm leaving a sample of a bromide print. At the sake of repetition I mention again, for now, I must talk bout and showcase images I printed thirty years ago, until I have a UV printing box and printing room built and ready for printing. That will be some weeks yet, thus, you are stuck reading about things that have already happened. Soon, however, I will have images to show of hand coated prints using digital negatives. Showing test examples that are not yet dialed in, is a very bad idea. . . . Soon though.

Silver Gelatin Contact Print ~ Paper Negative ~ "Quiet Spot on the River"
1984 ~ 5"x7" ~ Private Collection
Eugene, Oregon