1800’s processes
one image by hand at a time.
platinum.
Platinum prints are made in 100% pure cotton paper. The paper is manufactured in Europe in the same mills for the last 500 years in France, Italy and Germany. Cotton is a material that seems to defy aging. It has been found in ancient tombs with no degradation. I choose each sheet individually and cut it by hand, then I cover it with a platinum and palladium solution with a hand brush sensitizing the paper fibers. A negative that is the same size of the final print is contact printed in UV light. Once developed it is washed leaving only the cotton and platinum/paladium metals in the final print. This metals will never fade or change their tonalities. The final product is an object of extreme purity and beauty that will last thousands of years. The resulting tonality and depth is unique, many artists like Irving Penn, Ramon Alvarez Bravo, Albert Watson and many others have chosen this process to produce their prints. Touching and handling a print is a very sensual experience. I do the full process in my studio, one by one, creating images that have small variations inherent of this old process that adds charm and uniqueness
tintypes and ambrotypes.
The process begins in the darkroom and ends in the darkroom. You prepare a plate in the dark and while it is still wet you expose it in the camera and bring it back to the dark to develop it. All under 10 minutes.
The plates are tin, aluminum or glass.
Developing platinum
It happens at dim light,