archivalness and alt process

Good morning!
It's interesting to read how threads morph through time, almost like that
telephone game where you whisper into someone's ear something, and they do
the same with your words, and pass it down the line to the last person who
then says the statement and it is completely different than what you
originally stated.

If I remember, the original thread had to do with the question, "Why
argyrotype?" I think this boils down to personal preference, really...one
can see the obvious beauty of pt/pd or a salt print, but when it comes to
the brownprint processes, they can be considered somewhat equivalent (I know
some of you are rolling in your graves at this statement) , although to me
the choices and surprise with toning cyanotype all different colors make it
my favorite, now that I have derived the corrrect curve to fit its short
tonal range and therefore express all the tones of the negative. And I only
need worry about alkaline storage situations in regard to its archivalness.

The silver based processes are another story..and as I said earlier I had
VDB's degrade which were made last April. My argyrotypes have not degraded.
It was obviously a processing error, but I've not had that problem with
other processes so it surprised me. Thus I am a little leery of VDB and
certainly of selling one--once bitten twice shy.

Once you get into sales, I personally believe to NOT worry about
archivalness, not that anyone has truly suggested that (telephone game
again), is unconscionable. I sell mordancages, and tell my buyers it is
not an archival process; I have considered giving them a computer print
alongside the original in the future, but the degradation process is part of
the mordancage process in the first place--I mean, it can hardly get anymore
damaged and chemically altered than it already is!

So back to the original question--why argyrotype? Mike Ware says it is not
proven to be more archival, and thus it is only personal anecdote that will
put its archivalness into question I suppose, especially those who do both
argyrotype and VDB side by side. I don't know of that many people doing
argyrotype but Darryl Baird and myself have, and I have had no problems with
my prints. Have to wait another 30 years I suppose.

Where are the other 600 list members who never post??? Why not chime in here
with your experience with VDB vs. argyrotype? Any degradation issues?

And one last point; in reading through the history of photography, the
degradation of images was the major issue of the time, images fading and
spotting and such within a few years. During this milieu gum printing was
acknowledged to be perfectly archival. Gum rocks.
Chris
Received on Mon Mar 27 08:52:38 2006