In the billions of years a star exists the heaviest element formed is iron. In the seven seconds a star explodes into a supernova all the higher elements are created and cast out into the universe. In that brief moment the noble metals are formed, uranium is the heaviest but platinum is supreme.
Platinum is the most stable metal in the Universe and one of the rarest found in the Earth’s crust. It has the unique catalytic capacity to alter other molecules without yielding its own molecular structure but it can be dissolved in aqua regia. When combined with sodium chloride it forms platinum salts. This compound is water soluble and can oxidize. With the addition of ferric oxalate it becomes highly sensitive to ultraviolet light and practical for photography. The incorporation of salt and iron, two of the most promiscuous compounds and elements, makes this element vulnerable. It is the basis of platinum printing.
Henry Fox Talbot / Salted Print, 1844
Peter Henry Emerson / Platinum Print, 1886
Platinum is a “print out process”, during the exposure the metal salts begin to reduce, darken, and block themselves from continued exposure and density. This self masking allows for longer exposure times to bring in the highlights. Other 19th century processes also offered this but none approaches the subtle tonal range or the depth of blacks of a platinum print.
Platinum prints are as elegant as they are permanent. The process has an extended tonal range and deeper blacks compared to other photographic prints. One of the most distinctive qualities of a platinum print is that the image is in the paper, not on its surface, much like the ink in a lithograph or an etching. This is due to the emulsion being absorbed, becoming involved with the paper’s fibers.
The earliest known lens, Nimrud 750-710 B.C., predates the theory of optics by several hundred years. These crude convex crystals were probably used to make fire and for visual magnification. The principle of optics was independently recorded by the philosophers Mozi (470-390 B.C.) and Aristotle (384-322 B.C.). During a solar eclipse Aristotle observed the Sun’s crescent shape projected on the ground when the only direct sunlight was coming through small openings a tree’s canopy. Light travels in a straight line and if the only light source is a small hole in an otherwise dark space, an image will be visible on an opposing plane. This is the theory of the pinhole camera, historically known as a camera obscura (Latin; camera/room, obscura/dark).
Exactly when these two inventions were brought together is unclear but in 1558/9 Giambattista della Porta’s scientific papers describes a camera ottica. This resulted in a vastly brighter image and one that could be focused. Rendering the three dimensional world onto a two dimensional plane was the technical intention of drawing and painting. A device that could make this visual transformation was a tremendous asset to an artist.
Camera Obscura
Johannes Vermeer (1632 – 1675) mastered the camera as a painting aid with his drafting of circles of confusion. The introduction of mirrors to invert the direction of light and a ground glass to view the image were in common use by the end of the 18th century. All that remained to create a photograph was a light sensitive material to record an image.
By 1800 experiments were being done with silver nitrate’s responsiveness to light. As with so many processes, the greatest obstacle was halting the reaction once the desired results had been obtained, to desensitize the substance once the image was complete. In 1826/7 Nicéphore Niépce exposed the first permanent photograph using a variety of minerals and organic compounds.
First Photograph Ever Made 1826-1827
by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
Three years later experiments began with platinum’s reaction to light. Silver nitrate dominated photography’s development due to its price and its predisposition to change states with light and chemistry. By 1850 improvements in formulas and shortened exposure time made photography commercially viable but stability continued to be an obstacle. In 1855 the Royal Photographic Society formed The Fading Committee to resolve the issue.
Pigment based processes were invented to circumvent the difficulties with silver-based methods. Silver prevailed though, eventually salted albumen prints became dominant and were so popular it created a market panic for eggs. In 1888 George Eastman introduced the first handheld, roll film camera. This small box didn’t require any knowledge of chemistry or substantial equipment. Now anyone could be a photographer. Leica began mass producing the first 35mm camera in 1925. A small negative could be enlarged into a high-resolution print. Enhancements in the quality of both film and paper continued into the 1950s. Little changed in practical photography until the end of the century.
Throughout the 19th century platinum was pursued and refined for use in photography. The most persistent impediment was removing the unexposed platinum salts after the image was developed. In 1873 chemical improvements made it possible to commercially manufacture platinum paper. It gained considerable market share and was favored by artists for its delicate qualities. Its commercial success peaked in the beginning of the 20th century but the onset of W.W.I. saw the beginning of its eventual demise. At that time, Russia mined 90% of the world supply and availability was scarce. When production resumed after the war it was discovered that palladium (one of six metals in the platinum family) could be added or substituted completely for platinum. But the metal’s expense and shifting aesthetic trends brought commercial production to an end in 1930. In his “Day Books”, Edward Weston noted printing on his last sheets of platino paper. Today his platinum prints are among his most valued images.
But some photographers would not give up the paper’s insurmountable attributes. A small number continued to make prints as the technique is relatively simple, requiring only three compounds to coat the paper and two to process a print once exposed. Like the 17 year locust, platinum prints seemed to disappear until photography’s Neoclassic movement in the 1970s. Artists such as Jan Groover, who contributed to the transformation of color photography as an accepted and collectible medium, also made platinum/palladium prints.
The advent of digital photography in the late 1990s rendered chemical photography obsolete. As of this writing, commercial film has almost disappeared. Some photographers now make their own negative emulsions from 19th century formulas but the number of platinum printers has dwindled dramatically. The tonal range of a high-quality digital print can be almost indistinguishable from a fine platinum/palladium print. The durability is questionable though and none of the digital papers available can compare to the surface quality of a platinum print.
Curt Richter
Helsinki, Finland in June, 2014
Copyright © Curt Richter 2014
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REFERENCES
BOOKS
The Book Of Photography / Practical Theoretic and Applied
Edited by Paul N. Hasluck / Copyright 1905 / Publisher: London, New York: Cassell and Co.
Entire book available as .pdf – click here
Encyclopedia of Photography
Jones, Bernard Edward, reprinted 1911 (No Copyright), Publisher: Cassell, London
The Print by Ansel Adams
Copyright 1968 / Morgan & Morgan, Hastings-On-Hudson, N.Y.
The Keepers of Light by William Crawford
Copyright 1979 / Morgan & Morgan, Dobbs Ferry, N.Y.
CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics
Editor Robert c. Weast, Ph.D. / Copyright 1968 / CRC Press, Boca Raton, FL
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LINKS
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nimrud_lens
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_of_confusion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_(optics)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camera_obscura
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_photography
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum_prints
video: Dissolving Platinum