Color has ruled photography for many years now, but like a lot of fine-art photographers, I prefer black and white, for its timeless quality and full tonal range. I love the way black-and-white images draw viewers in, without the distractions of color.
Still, working in black and white has its drawbacks. How many of us have access to a wet darkroom, particularly when out of school? And let's face it: digital controls of contrast, density, burning in, and dodging allow so much more control than a traditional “analog” enlargement or contact print.
With all the new technology out there today, you can make great prints with inkjet printers, but I still prefer the look and feel of a traditional silver- gelatin print. That's the artist's choice, of course. But on the practical side, many galleries, collectors, and curators still favor silver-gelatin, too. So, what to do?
Modern color labs use a hybrid digital/analog technology that offers some hints. An image file from a digital camera, or from a scan of a negative or slide, is edited in Photoshop, then output to traditional color paper in a
laser-driven “digital enlarger,” made by companies such as Oce (Light Jet) and Durst (Lambda). The paper is then processed in traditional RA-4 color chemistry. These digital C-prints are made for color work, of course, and do their job wonderfully, providing consistent results with reasonable permanence ratings.
But though the process works well for color, when I have tried to make black- and-white C-prints, I get nothing but disappointment-tonal shifts, dye instability, and questionable repeatability. Black-and-white inkjet prints
produce better results, but I still miss the subtle beauty of the traditional silver-gelatin print.
So, when Ilford announced a new hybrid black-and-white process, I was very excited. So much so that I actually left my job, which I had held for 13 years, at HARMAN technology (parent company and manufacturer of Ilford Photo black-and-white products), to set up my own lab, Digital Silver Imaging, specializing in the process.
Simply put, Ilford's process is very similar in principle to digital C- printing. Specially designed silver-halide black-and-white paper is exposed with a tri-color digital laser enlarger, then processed in traditional black & white chemistry, either in trays or a roller processor.
Harman offers two new silver-gelatin papers that closely resemble their traditional counterparts. Ilfospeed Digital RC Pearl paper and Harman Galerie FB Digital both provide a neutral image tone, with superb sharpness and detail. The Galerie FB is a fiber based baryta paper for optimal archival museum quality prints.
The process requires expensive, specialized equipment and knowledgeable technicians, so generally isn't something that individual artists will be able to do at home. But there are a few labs in the United States, including mine, that specialize in this service.
“For the first time, fine art photographers can benefit from the best of both worlds,” said Harman Chairman Phil Harris. “This unique product brings together the added creative benefits offered by digital manipulation,
with the long established aesthetic and archival properties of true baryta base black and white silver gelatin prints.”
Until recently, photographer Eric Luden worked for Ilford/Harmon. He now runs Digital Silver Imaging, which offers direct printing from digital files or high-resolution scans to traditional black-and-white papers. Email: info@digitalsilverimaging.com
