Richard Sullivan wrote
BTW I've never een any printed confirmation of anyone substrating in the
Classical Era. Knowing how clever those folks were, it only seems logical
that someone would have tried it
Surely the logic of the situation is that, as it is easier to obtain good
registration without the unnecessary complication of a substrate, those clever
folks would not have used one.
If Judy agrees it might be worthwhile to distribute my e-mails to her of last
week on the subject.
As to aluminium substrates, perhaps someone could confirm that that was what
Irving Penn used in his platinum printing. When I have held the Penn prints in
my hands, the substrate certainly felt and looked like aluminium.
I checked with John Szarkowski's publication on Irving Penn to find that
Szarkowski regarded platinum as a refractory process and that Penn's prints
exceeded in subtlety,clarity and power even those of Frederick Evans and
Clarence White. One can only charitably conclude that Mr Szarkowski was so
blinded by his subject that he was incapable of objective judgements.
As to gum platinum and gum silver processes I have found that prints containing
complicated detail such as fine lace can be printed without the use of a
substrate. The important thing is to ensure that they are washed long enough to
be chemically clean.
Almost as a post script, are there any gum printers on the list who wash their
prints back to pure colour every time they make an exposure ?
Terry King