>Although Poitevin mentioned albumen already in his 1855 patent, using the
>whole egg may be a *new* but certainly an interesting approach. But isn't it
>likely
that the disadvantage of the albumen's yellowing and surface cracking in a few
months or years will surpass the advantages of increased sharpness and colour
saturation? What's your experience?<
No Klaus I have been using the whole egg emulsion [ Fotempera] now for the past
decade and cannot observe any discernible yellowing, fading,or cracking at
all. As far as I can detect this is a truly *new* process. Albumen did
appear in Poitevin's 1855 patent as you so rightly point out, and
dichromated albumen was used in some photo-mechanical applications, such as
stone photo-lithography The yolk and whole egg alternatives where for
some reason ignored.
on 18-2-96 Luis.Nadeau states---
>The above confirms my own observation for anything that applies "over some
years" with the albumen process. An evaluation of what took place over a
longer period however is different.<
The deterioration of which Luis speaks applies I am sure to problems
inherent to the silver based photographic system and possibly the quality
of the paper base used.
as he goes on to further state---
>While improper fixing (fix too old or exhausted or fixing too short) and
too short of wash (and poor quality mounts, adhesives, etc) and poor
storage conditions (high temp. & humidity) have a remarkable deteriorating
effect, the fact of the matter is that it is practically impossible to make
an albumen print that is as permanent as the most permanent silver-gelatin
(i.e. "properly" toned) prints.<
In fact the archival quality of albumen as an emulsion or medium is very
good and it has been around for a long time the mediaeval monks used it as
a painting
medium for many centuries.I spent three years of my early photographic
career as a photographer at the British Museum and still remember vividly
those beautiful colours painstakingly painted to illustrate the
manuscripts. Incidentally the albumen was called glar and often precious
stones where ground up as pigment, now there's a thought what about a
print incorporating these gems ?it would knock the platinum print as the
most expensive method { why do I keep hearing this chorus Judy in the sky
with diamonds in my head or was it Lucy } sorry about that too many hours
at the computer this weekend :--))
on the 18-2-96 Terry King wrote --
>I have had no problems with yellowing either with the silver chloride/arrowroot
albumen prints I have made, or with the gum Dichromate albumen prints. On some
very small prints the shininess was obtrusive but they were only made to be
rephotographed I have noticed no flaking with these prints.<
However he went on to say
>I have also made prints with whole egg but, as Peter Frederick says, they need
>a plasticised surface to the paper. I found that they printed quite well from
continuous tone negatives but were subject to the same kind of flaking that one
gets if one's pigment has been applied too thickly to a conventional gum print.
I have found no trace of yellowing. My experience was that there was no
advantage in using the whole egg especially as I prefer the tactility of
straight water-colour paper.<
I have never known a Fotempera print to flake on any surface but it has
happened many times for me with gloy and generic gum Arabic on smooth
surfaces such as glass,and plastic or when the image was printed with a
great many coatings on paper.
One of the prime reasons that I changed to egg was its extraordinary power
to stick to almost anything.With it I could use a dimensionally stable base
which is practically inert from an archival point of view[ laminated
polypropylene]. this in its turn allowed me to employ polychrome printing
technique to achieve multi-colour work in a manner not possible before.
You can coat this emulsion onto any surface and it will stick, not just on
plastic,but it has many other interesting characteristics which are yet to
be fully exploited being a true emulsion, i.e. a mixture of oil and
water!. Egg
tempera is a remarkable substance it takes two years to fully polymerise
then hardens down to one of the hardest natural organic compounds known to
man, also it has a historical perspective tempera painting has also been
around for many centuries there has even been a suggestion that Leonardo de
Vinci may have used it as a primitive Fotempera print to fake the Turin
Shroud a lovely story I can almost hear him laughing down the centuries
waiting for this time bomb set at the centre of Christendom to explode.
pete