RJ Print Lab

Brief History

These are some of the Historical Processes we currently print.

Historical processes we do at RJ Print Lab are made by contact printing, which means that we make a digital inter-negative prior to the printing.  In all of our processes we try to stretch the tonal range of each process to its maximum potential by meticulously calibrating for each process and specially chosen papers.  The paper is then hand coated using our own mix of chemistry, correctly exposed, processed and dried.

Platinum Palladium

Nothing rivals the subtle tonal rendition of a platinum palladium print. The emulsion is brushed and absorbed by the handmade paper as opposed to silver gelatin prints (wet prints) or ink jet prints where the image is actually floating on top of the paper.  This gives the prints a three-dimensional feel to them and also makes them the most archival print available today.

Salt Prints

William Henry Fox Talbot invented the salt print in 1839.  This was the first time photographs could be reproduced from a single negative.  The finished print has a beautiful chocolate brown look to it. The process is started by preparing the paper in a salted solution. After the paper has dried it is then coated with a silver solution.

Cyanotypes

One of my favourite processes is the cyanotype process, invented by Sir John Herschel in 1841 as a way to copy notes.  The term “blue print” comes from cyanotypes as they were used to copy architectural and engineering drawings.   Although this is a simple process, it manages to produces a beautiful continuous tone of Prussian blue and can easily be toned.

Van Dyke Brown Prints

The Van Dyke Brown print is based on the Argentotype, the first iron-silver printing method invented by Englishman Sir John Herschel in 1842. Both methods rely on the action of light on ferric salts and their chemical properties are very similar. The Van Dyke Brown process got its name because of its  color resemblance to the dark brown pigment of the Flemish painter Van Dyck. You can achieve beautiful tonalities with this printing method. They can also be toned with platinum, palladium or even gold.

Platinum Palladium

Platinum palladium prints are exceptionally beautiful. Everlasting images presented through a wide range of subtle tones that range from creamy shades of whites to delicate gray mid tones and warm sepia browns to the deepest blacks.  The process was invented in 1873. When compared to conventional black and white silver prints, platinum prints exhibit an expanded tonal range, three-dimensionality, and a uniquely luminous quality. They are also among the most permanent objects produced by man. The platinum metals are more stable than gold, and a platinum image, properly preserved, can last thousands of years.

The creation of a contemporary platinum print, whether from film or a digital file, remains an intimate process.  The print is made by hand coating art paper with a platinum / palladium solution, exposing the sensitised paper to ultra-violet light, and then processing the exposed paper to create the final, permanent print. No two prints are ever identical.  Platinum palladium prints are regarded as the ultimate collectors print. Revered for their subtle beauty and permanence, they will literally outlast the paper on which they are printed.