I have spent some time experimenting with old photographic papers. It is a strange preoccupation of mine many of whom would think of as a waste of time. Certainly the results are not as good in many cases as new fresh paper for conventional prints. There have been some exceptions for me though and I look forward to further exploiting some of the things I have seen on some old papers.
I recently wrote of my
disappointment in a box of unopened Panalure paper. And while an initial disappointment it did turn out to be a good Lumen paper with a nice lavender color before fixing and a retention of some nice salmon color after selenium toning and fixing. Examples can be seen below.
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| Unfixed Panalure |
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| Selenium toned (1+19) and fixed |
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| Unfixed Panalure |
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| Selenium toned (1+19) and fixed |
I also experimented with using developer and fixer like paint or ink. While I wouldn't say these are art they represent ways to use paper for non-photographic uses. There is a rich history of these techniques such as
photograms,
chemigrams, and other
non-camera techniques. For the following I used old Eco-4812 developer at 1+14 dilution. All of this is done under full bright lighting as the idea is to fully expose the paper. For painting and writing I found that the developer quickly exhausts before a dark black is reached. This could be useful for gray tones however it would probably be better to use concentrated developer. After applying the developer; wait for the areas to darken. I then carefully dunk the sheet in a water bath to wash the developer away. Care has to be taken to keep the developer from running off the paper and marring the image. After a thorough rinse then a normal fix bath and rinse is used for the recommended period of time for the paper used. This paper is glossy RC paper so one has to be careful of the liquid running on the surface. A matte finish on FB paper may be easier to control.
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| Hand-print in Eco 4812 developer on Kodak Panalure |
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| Painting on Kodak Panalure with Eco4812 developer using a paintbrush. Washed then fixed. |
I used selenium toner drawn on the paper using a brush. I also used fixer with similar effect. Here one gets a reverse of the technique of using the developer. After application of the selenium or developer the paper is washed carefully before placing it in a developer. The areas not touched by the selenium or fixer will darken as they are exposed while the areas that are painted will remain white. In the case of the selenium the tone is more complex for the painted areas. Again fix and wash the print afterwards.
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| Painting on Kodak Panalure with Selenium 1+19 (left side) and fixer (right side) using a paintbrush. Washed then developed, stop and fix baths. |
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