<< But please, could we have some more wisdom about kallitype archivality?
Judy
>>
Not sure about wisdom, but (as Judy knows) I have submitted my two pence
worth to a magazine and it may perhaps appear one day.
Generally the fading of kallitypes is attributed to the presence of
insoluble iron(III) compoounds (hydroxide/oxide) in the print, which are
pretty impossible to remove once formed.
These will be formed if an alkaline developer is used. Procedures which use
neutral or acidic developers are thus considered to be more likely to give
lasting prints. The traditional borax developers are probably best avoided,
as borax is a weak alkali.
In the article I describe (mainly) the methods published in the early years
of this century by James Thomson and their application to the Kallitype and
silver/platinum prints. As well as producing excellent prints these methods
offer considerable economy in the use of silver (and platinum) and may
produce prints of greater permanence than the more usual methods.
Peter Marshall
Family Album/Gay Pride - http://www.dragonfire.net/~gallery/index.html
Also on Fixing Shadows: ----------- http://fermi.clas.virginia.edu/~ds8s
Future Press and elsewhere... E-Mail: petermarshall@cix.compulink.co.uk