Platinotype and Cyanotype Print Making

 

At Albuquerque's Main Library I found a  book devoted to the collection of Paul Strand's work at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  In that was the mention of Strand's technique of enlarging negatives from Graflex medium format negatives for the purpose of enabling the production of bigger 8x10 contact prints.  That is the same process Edward Weston used throughout his career, which I had found puzzling as Weston's account is lacking in detail. The book revealed the full explanation, which is that both photographers early in their careers were making platinum (platinotype) prints. Those could only be made as contact prints as production of the positive image required exposure to ultraviolet light, available then only from the sun.

So, platinum printing is similar to the cyanotype process in that both are often undertaken by coating the paper manually shortly before rather lengthy exposure to ultraviolet. There is also some similarity in developing the exposed images.  The cyanotype images are developed simply by washing in water.  This is also true of some platinum prints, though it seems those are more commonly developed in chemical solutions.  Additional processing variations include treatments of specialty papers and additives to the developing solutions including mercury.

Both platinum and cyanotype prints can be rendered in a variety of tints.  Cyanotype prints are most often blue tinted, but they can also be produced with sepia tones by adding a mild acidic solution.

An excellent description of the platinum printing process can be found on the website of the National Gallery of Art.

Strand, Stieglitz, and Weston made their enlarged internegatives on glass plates for the purpose of getting prints.  A simpler process now available is to create a large digital image and then print that out on clear plastic sheets normally used in overhead projectors. I have used that technique with some of my cyanotypes with images coming from my medium format cameras.

The making of platinum prints has always been technically challenging and costly.  The current economic situation can only exacerbate that.  Cyanotypes are still easy and relatively cheap to make.  It is even possible to get pre-coated cyanotype paper; I have found it in a couple museum gift shops, usually marketed as suitable for teaching children about the print making process.

 A few of my cyanotypes: