I am often asked what goes into making a traditional fine art black and white print. For me it all starts with a vision of what I want to see on my “canvas” which is the silver gelatin print. This fact cannot be emphasized enough, the most powerful creative tool the photographer has is what he or she points their camera at. Once I have an idea, I need to explore the natural world to fulfill that vision. Ansel Adams (being a musician) described the process of capturing a scene on film as analogous to creating the musical score. The other half of that process, the silver gelatin printing process, he describes as the performance of that score. These two processes are closely tied together, the tools I use in the field are chosen to give me the best possible final results.

I find magic in the process of using a simple view camera to expose to light traditional 4×5 inch film, which when submersed in a bath of chemicals reveals an image. This image is then directly enlarged onto silver gelatin paper bringing that light to life in an “expressive print”. This process is a wonderful mix of alchemical reactions, technological gadgets, and creative seeing. I hope to share with you a little of the “behind the scenes” process for those interested.

 

In the Field

I use a KB Canham DLC45 view camera, a very modern version of the historical view camera. It is simply a light tight box with a lens on one end and a sheet of frosted glass on the other. The frosted glass is viewed by shielding the back from light using a dark cloth, and viewing the direct projection of the light from the scene. The image is upside down, but the brain quickly adjusts to this way of seeing. The lens, while optically sophisticated, is entirely manual with a mechanical shutter and no focus mechanism. In today’s whirlwind of high technology I appreciate such a simplistic machine and am reminded of the quote: “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”An external “spot meter” is used to accurately measure the light of the scene and set the appropriate exposure. This is the only piece of equipment in my bag that needs a battery!

 

In the Darkroom

Exposed film is carefully taken back to my darkroom to be developed. Currently I use Kodak T-Max 100 film developed in Kodak Tmax RS developer. Here precision is absolutely important, and to that end I use  Jobo Expert Drum on a hand roller base.

Once the film is developed, it is cataloged and stored. Certainly I don’t bring back as many images as many photographers, but editing the images is an important step. I only print a very small selection of the negatives created, so finding the one that is technically perfect and conveys the scene as I envisioned it is an important step.

Once a negative is chosen for enlargement it is placed in my Beseler 45 enlarger with a custom built LED light head, and projected onto Ilford double weight glossy photo paper. This is the second most creative step in the entire process. Many photographers use the phrase the “fine art” print to describe the art object, I prefer the “expressive print”. I am working with the creative controls available to attempt to make a print that expresses an emotion that I felt while making the original exposure. A surprisingly large number of creative controls are possible with traditional silver gelatin printing. These include “dodging” (making an area lighter in tone) and “burning” (making areas darker) of the image. It is rare that a print has fewer than 10 separate printing steps. Perhaps just as important is what it does not allow, there are no moving of pyramids or removing people or buildings from a scene!

 

The Expressive Silver Gelatin Print

After the print is created it is selenium toned for maximum longevity, and then archivally processed. After drying the print is dry-mounted to archival mat board, and a windowed over-mat is created. The print is then hand “spotted” to remove any minor imperfections, signed on the front and stamped on the back with additional information. This presentation method is a time honored tradition that balances ideal viewing conditions with maximum longevity of the print itself. Silver gelatin prints have an unrivaled history as collectible photographic art objects.