Re: sepia bleach without toner


Brian Ellis (beellis@gte.net)
Tue, 02 Nov 1999 09:16:31 -0500


I'm not an expert, certainly not from a chemical analysis standpoint, but it's very common to bleach
(potassium ferracyanide, which as I recall is what Part A of Kodak's sepia toner kit is) all or a portion
of a silver print without following it with toner. Witness Eugene Smith, Bruce Barnbaum, John Sexton to a
lesser extent, and many, many others. If their prints are going to fade or discolor or stain with age,
it's certainly something collectors need to be made aware of. I thought that the bleach was just followed
by a fix and wash to keep it permanent. I've done this quite a lot myself without any noticeable
problems, though despite my advanced age I guess I'm not yet archival. .

janet neuhauser wrote:

> Though this may be off topic, I am curious if anyone has had experience with working with the sepia
> toned silver print and finding a way to retain print permanance without going to the toner bath. the
> look of the bleached print is sometimes quite beautiful. if you bleach with part A, and want
> to leave it that way, do you have to refix or do anything to the print. what would replace the
> dissolved silver? The prints done in the last couple of weeks haven't faded with just the bleach and
> a good wash, but I am wondering what will happen. thanks for any comments.
>
> janet neuhauser



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