The Joy of Contact Printing

I find it interesting to note the changing grail of photography over the years. It has been my observation that there are different camps within photography, as well as without, each having a different direction and orthodoxy. I also see it as cyclic in nature. Interestingly enough, it is usually technological advancements which tend to drive much of the change in thinking, and orthodoxy.

Case in point. There was a time when contact printing was the ultimate printing method, for its faithful replication of the print negative. That was also when photographers who wanted to print to 8x10 carried a large camera around to do so. When quality pre-coated printing papers came to be that was the go to method for printing. Platinotype papers were available, one company having almost two dozen varieties of platinum coated papers to choose from. If only, today. I would be a dedicated convert to that company. Also at that time silver enriched printing papers became ubiquitous, referred to as "Gaslight Paper" for the saturated silver in the emulsion. Contact printing was still good, but also in the pipeline was the negative enlarger. After hours of online searching I have yet to find any source noting the year that the negative enlarger was first used, or who invented the device. How crazy is that. I can find out what Twiggy wore on her first camera appearance.

My point on the enlargement value of photographs, being simply that size definitely mattered and enlargements of silver gelatin prints began in earnest. No need to point out that platinotype papers need a UV light source, so projection enlargement wasn't going to happen on that count. And that began the death knell for platinotype papers. What took its place was a wide array of saturated silver paper types and brands, in chloride papers then bromide papers later.

When I built my first darkroom and began developing my own prints I had it in my head that very large prints were to come. That actually never happened. To print larger than 11x14 meant larger negatives to arrive at the creamy images I could get in an 8x10. Had it been the case that money was no object and I had a large studio/darkroom space perhaps I would have been making very large prints. Turns out, I found a Burke & James 5x7 view camera first. Size wasn't all that important after that.

What I am alluding to is simply that contact printing is different than projection enlargement, beyond the Duh point to mechanical differences. I am speaking aesthetically here. Contact printing can be applied to any medium, and needs nothing but a negative, paper and developing trays. Contact printing on silver gelatin printing paper requires only a bare bulb and printing trays, a la Edward Weston's personal methodology. There is a different look to an image contact printed instead of enlarged from a negative. I would urge any photographer to print the same image both ways and compare them side by side. Then decide which is the preferable method.

Back to technology advancements. Today making a digital negative for contract printing on silver gelatin papers is as easy as taking any digital image and printing it straight as is onto acetate. No special spectral enhancements or altering densities in major ways. It needs the same negative as used for projection enlargement. Then why do it? Because the result it is beautiful to see. Most of the photographers I have known who have tried contact printing, didn't give it up afterwards.

A sample of a contact print on chloride paper. This image was printed using a paper negative. The paper used was RC coated stock, grade 2, rated at 6 ASA (ISO) shot with the Burke & James view camera. A paper negative prints pretty much as well as a celluloid negative. I have dozens of examples to show for it. Some printed on bromide paper.

Silver Gelatin Contact Print ~ "Pond #3"
1984 ~ 5"x7" ~ Unique
Eugene, Oregon