In the fall of 2014 I took part in an undergraduate research project at McHenry County College in Crystal Lake, IL. The project was sponsored by the school and and generously coached by my instructor and mentor, Andrew Doak.

A series of ten prints on fine art paper made in platinum and palladium resulted. The following is an edited collection of excerpts from documents, notes, data and images I collected in the process.

This account discusses the printing process, not exposing or developing film. I used existing negatives that were not developed specifically for pt/pd printing. I’ll write a post about making negatives for pt/pd, including the use of PMK Pyro developer.

The Application

Research Interests: Exploration of alternative process photographic printing.

Antique photographic processes dating back to the nineteenth century are enjoying wide interest among contemporary artists. One of these is the platinum/palladium process which can render a particularly beautiful print when skillfully performed.
Platinum prints require a negative image on transparent film to be placed in direct contact with a sensitized medium, then exposed to an UV light source. In the past, negatives were produced in a large format camera. Now, negatives can be created digitally, making new options available to the artist.
I would like to research both the digitally enhanced and traditional processes, produce a portfolio of prints, compare the results and document my observations.

Academic Aspirations: Continue on my path as a lifelong learner. Take a leadership role inspiring younger students to take an interest in traditional photographic artistry.

Career Goals: Although I don’t expect to pursue a career dedicated to photography, I am an active contributor to commercial creative pursuits that include graphic elements. This program would add depth to my understanding of 2D visual design.

Background Influences: In 2005 I began building contact printing frames, a tool that is useful in the production of photographic prints, especially those using the “alternative processes”. I design and build frames that are respected and admired by artists all over the world. As a result, I enjoy relationships with many accomplished practitioners in the field. I’m proud to say I’ve made a small contribution to keeping, and passing along these unique skills.

Background

On advice of my mentor, I decided to employ The Platino-Palladiotype Process developed by Mike Ware and Pradip Malde.

A bill of materials submitted for the Malde-Ware platinum printing process chosen for my undergraduate research scholar program project. The BOM was compiled from several sources before the work began. Only items marked with an asterisk were actually used.

QTY	U/M	DESCRIPTION	SOURCE	CAT#
4	each	Amber glass storage bottles, 50cc*	McMaster-Carr	6120T81
1	each	Graduated cylinder, 50ml	McMaster-Carr	4436T33
1	each	Graduated cylinder, 100ml	McMaster-Carr	4436T34
1	each	Graduatedd cylinder, 1000ml	McMaster-Carr	4436T37
100	each	Coffee stiring stick	Grocery store
1	pkg	Disposable nitrile gloves, medium	McMaster-Carr	52555T44
4	each	Processing trays, 11×14*	B&H	PAT1216R
1	pkg 100	1 Oz medicine cups, disposable	Amazon	B000LX35SA
2	each	Glass rod, puddle pusher*	Photographer’s formulary	07-0270-0
0	each	UV safety glasses*	Amazon
1	each	Hygrometer*	McMaster-Carr	39175K23
1	each	Scale, 0.1g accuracy*	Amazon	B00IZ1YHZK
1	pkg 10	Syringe, 2cc*	Amazon	B000FMYDLU
1	each	Contact printing frame, 11×14*
1	each	KMR-03 Surface Gampi White roll	Hiromi Paper	338
25	each	Wyndstone Vellum # 165 243 (25″ x 38″)	Sam Flax	# 165 243
25	each	BFK Rives	Dick Blick	10419-1032
25	each	Arches Aquarelle*	Dick Blick	10011-1042
1	each	Pictorico Ultra Premium Matte (17″x66″ Roll)	B&H
1	each	Ammonium iron (III) oxalate, 100g bottle*	Photographer’s formulary	10-0502 100G
5	g	Ammonium tetrachloroplatinate (II)*	J&J Materials
5	g	Ammonium tetrachloropallidate (II)*	J&J Materials
1	each	Tween 20, 30ml 100%*	Photographer’s formulary	10-1478 30ML
1	each	Disodium EDTA, 1 lb bottle*	Photographer’s formulary	10-0490 100G
1	each	Tetrasodium EDTA, 1 lb bottle*	Photographer’s formulary	10-0495 1LB
5	gal	Hypo clearing agent*	B&H, etc
1	each	Pyro Max Developer	Bostick & Sullivan	SKU1015

* These items were used for the project

Coming Next Darkroom setup