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orotones

Jean-Paul,

This inquiry may be better served on the Photo-History list.

However, I've spoken briefly with a friend who is interested in this and can
offer a thought or two - he was just heading out of town and I was only able
to get the briefest of response, but if you still have questions I will
inquire again when he returns home.

You wrote:
>Some questions for alternative networkers :

>1. I think Curtis didn't publish anything technical about orotone, true,
false ?

Apparently he did. (no more info about that for the moment...)

>2. Do you know quotes of contemporary papers about the process

???

>3. Orotone didn't vanished with Curtis, the process is quite unknown in
Europe but it'is possible to find moderns Orotone made in USA in the post
war time (1950, 60 ...), any information ?

My friend Richard says he's never heard of any ortones of European heritage.

Apparently Curtis' son Ashael (sp?) continued to work with orotone, doing
landscapes in/of the Seattle area.  He certainly wasn't alone in continuing
to work with the process, but Richard said that no one ever equaled Edward
Curtis is the use of the process.

There were, apparently, several companies selling orotone materials for
use -  one of them named was named Pillsbury (no, not the dough boy...)

Edward Curtis was active until his death in the early '30's (?) and worked
in many alt-processes right up to the end - including making many
cyanotypes, as well as doing the photo-stills for the 1920's film Ben
Hur....

>4. All Curtis Orone are toned (sulfide, Gold ...), the toning process
acting as an intensensifier above the gold back coating, some are untoned ?

Richard was unsure, but assumed they are all toned.

BTW - I'm quite certain that orotones utilized gold as a sensitizer in the
process. It was not just that were gold backed images on glass plates.....

Hope this helps.  I forwarded your e-mail directly to Richard and perhaps
when he returns home he will answer in more detail.

Best - Jon