Printing-Out Paper Processes
1840–1910
With printing-out paper, light alone creates a complete and visible image, with no chemical development required. Washing, toning, and fixing are typically the only processing procedures. The manufacture of printing-out paper made it easier than ever before for people to pursue photography.
The chemicals used in printing-out paper processes (POP) are sensitive to ultraviolet light and must be applied either in the dark or under low light. Ammonium chloride, sodium potassium tartrate, and silver nitrate are combined with a binder, either gelatin or collodion, to form a light-sensitive emulsion that coats the paper support. Contact printing, or pressing a negative or object directly to the surface and exposing the paper to ultraviolet light (historically sunlight), produces an image without the need of chemical development agents.
POP prints can take minutes for ample exposure. To process the image for permanence, the paper is washed in a running water bath to remove silver nitrate residue. To increase image stability, toners, such as gold chloride, are used at this stage. The print is then fixed in a sodium thiosulfate bath, or hypo. The final step is to wash the print in water to rid the paper of extraneous chemicals.
Salted Paper Process (1840–1860s)
William Henry Fox Talbot of England is credited with the discovery of the salted paper process. During his honeymoon to Lake Como, Italy, in 1833, he was disappointed by the inadequacy of his drawings in capturing the full beauty of the region. Talbot’s work to address this shortcoming began in earnest after that trip, and in 1839 he presented his new method in a paper to the Royal Society of London, titled Some Account of the Art of Photogenic Drawing or the Process by Which Natural Objects may be Made to Delineate Themselves Without the Aid of an Artist’s Pencil. He patented the process in 1841.
The salted print process was the first to create a positive image from a negative, thereby allowing for ease of reproduction. While light-sensitive chemicals had been experimented with for decades, Talbot’s discovery solidified the salted paper process as a viable photographic print method. It is the progenitor of all silver-based printing-out processes.
The salted paper method involves “printing out,” meaning the image is formed by light rather than developed out with chemicals. The chemistry involves solutions of sodium chloride (table salt) and silver nitrate, which, when combined, convert to light-sensitive silver chloride. This is brushed onto paper in a room that is dark or has subdued lighting. Contact printing, or pressing a negative or object directly to the paper surface and exposing it to light—historically sunlight—produces the image. After exposure, the paper is submerged in a salt bath to remove excess silver and stop development. The print is then rinsed under running water for fifteen minutes.
The process produces an image with a reddish-brown color. A toning bath, typically containing gold, could be employed at this stage to change the color. Salted paper prints require a fixer, such as sodium thiosulfate—also called hypo—to keep the image from fading. A final wash is needed to rid the paper of extraneous chemicals.
Albumen Process (1850s–1900)
The albumen printing process gave photographers better reproduction of detail, a wider tonal range, and greater print stability than the salted paper process that preceded it. It remained the photographic process of choice throughout the second half of the nineteenth century.
Albumen printing and salt printing both use the energy of light waves, rather than chemical reactions, to create an image. With albumen printing, however, the image resides in the layer of albumen on the paper’s surface, not in the paper itself.
The albumen process for photographic prints was invented in 1850 by Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard (1802–1872). On May 27, 1850, he presented his method to the French Académie des Sciences and then published it in the scientific journal Compte rendus des séances de l’Academie des Sciences (1850).
The process begins with the application of albumen, a solution of egg whites and sodium chloride, to the surface of very thin paper. (This thin paper is an identifying characteristic of albumen prints, which are typically mounted to board or card stock.) The egg-white coating produces a semigloss finish. After drying, the paper is then made light sensitive by the application of a silver nitrate solution, which combines with the sodium chloride on the paper to produce light-sensitive silver chloride.
The image is developed via contact printing, or pressing a negative or object directly to the paper surface and exposing it to light—historically, diffused sunlight rather than artificial light. After exposure, the paper is submerged in running water to remove excess silver.
The process produces a purple to brown image. The photographer can change the color by applying a toner, such as a gold compound. This extra step can also aid in image permanence.
Albumen prints require a fixer, such as sodium thiosulfate, to keep the image from fading. A final wash is needed to rid the paper of extraneous chemicals.
Albumen Cartes-de-visites
The albumen printing process gave photographers better reproduction of detail, a wider tonal range, and greater print stability than the salted paper process that preceded it. It remained the photographic process of choice throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. One popular form of albumen prints was the carte-de-visite or photographic calling card. As the form implies, it was often used for personal portraiture, but saw widespread use as a medium for spreading celebrity likenesses, for advertising, and even diseminating images of the Civil War.
Albumen Stereographs
The albumen printing process gave photographers better reproduction of detail, a wider tonal range, and greater print stability than the salted paper process that preceded it. It remained the photographic process of choice throughout the second half of the nineteenth century. Stereographs, two nearly identical photographs mounted side by side and seen through a special binocular viewer, created an impression of three-dimensional space, and were immensely popular for educational and entertainment purposes.
Albumen Prints
The albumen process permitted prints in a variety of formats. Photographs mounted on stiff backings were popular, since the albumen paper was very thin and easily creased or damaged. The mount also provided a place for the photographic studio to promote its business. When the image was of a noteworthy subject or event, the mount was used to describe the content of the photographic image.
Thepainting that served as the basis for this photographic copy was a collaboration between artists Victor Pierson and Paul Poincy, showing volunteer firemen, city officials, and other notable individuals crowded around the Henry Clay Monument on Canal Street at the annual firemen’s parade on March 4, 1872. The painters worked from photographs to depict many of the people seen in the foreground of the work and to capture details of the buildings in the background. The original, mammoth canvas is in the collection of The Louisiana State Museum.
Collodion Printing-Out Paper (1885-1910)
Collodion printing-out paper (POP) met with limited commercial success until it began to be manufactured by the Obernetter family in Germany in the mid-1880s.
Collodion printing-out paper included a baryta layer that was a milestone in the evolution of photographic materials. “Baryta” refers to a combination of barium and strontium sulfates that brightens images by scattering light back through the silver image layer. The baryta layer also prevents impurities from the paper fibers from contaminating the silver layer. With this addition to the paper support, prints were smoother, whiter, and glossier than those made on albumen-coated paper, which soon fell from favor. Many different companies offered precoated printing-out papers, including Kodak and Ilford. Trade names for these papers included Aristo and Solio.
Gelatin Printing-Out Paper (1885-1910)
The Obernetter family in Germany, which pioneered the use of collodion printing-out paper in the mid-1880s, also introduced the manufacture of gelatin printing-out paper, a very similar product.
Like collodion printing-out paper, gelatin printing-out paper included a baryta layer that was a milestone in the evolution of photographic materials. “Baryta” refers to a combination of barium and strontium sulfates that brightens images by scattering light back through the silver image layer. The baryta layer also prevents impurities from the paper fibers from contaminating the silver layer. With this addition to the paper support, prints were smoother, whiter, and glossier than those made on albumen-coated paper, which soon fell from favor.
Views from Evan Hall Plantation
These images were taken using the Kodak No. 1 camera, introduced by George Eastman in 1888. The camera came loaded with a twenty-foot roll of film, enough to make one hundred 2.5-inch-diameter negatives. Promoted with the slogan “You press the button—we do the rest,” the entire camera, containing the exposed film, was returned to the factory for the film to be developed and printed. The camera, reloaded with fresh film, was then returned to its owner together with a set of prints.
Matte Collodion Printing-Out Paper (1895–1910)
To meet changing aesthetics, manufacturers of collodion printing-out papers began to produce papers to imitate the surface and tonal qualities of platinum prints. These matte collodion papers became the choice among portrait photographers. Toned (treated with a metallic solution in order to modify the overall color of the image) with either gold or platinum, these prints have a distinct brownish to neutral-black hue and incredible stability.
