I am very interested in platinum and palladium printing. Before attempting
to post any questions on this list, I have done the following: 1) read
Thomas Shillea's Instruction Manual on Pt/Pd (1985), 2) read all that the
Keepers of Light has to say on the matter, 4) ordered Luis's new book (my
university's library does not seem to have even the old one), 3) downloaded
all the archives of alt-photo-process and read all that material I found
to be related to the subject of my interest. After this homework, I still
have a few questions that I am trying to answer before I call Sullivan &
Bostick with my credit card. I hope that the answers to my questions would
be of interest to other beginners with this process.
1) Is the FAQ for alt-photo-process ready? If so where is it?
2) What is the verdict on the Arches Platine paper? Is it being sold in
sizes less than 33"x40"? wherer? A New York photographer, whose work I
admire (Lois Conner), claims to have tried more than 150 papers and has
found nothing better suited (for her taste of course) than Bienfang
Graphics 360. Does anybody know how the newcomer Platine compares with the
Bienfang 360?
3) If money and complexity are not the issues, what is the absolute "best"
(in terms of short exposure, safety, stability etc..) light source for the
process? Where to buy it? Does anybody know about or have experience with
the pulsed-xenon lights?
4) I read somewhere on Usenet that Palladium increases grainniness. Is
there any quantitative measure for the extent of this effect as a function
of the proportion of Pt/Pd? I am concerned about this because the
expression I am after, in the particular prints I want to make, strongly
requires extreme sharpness.
5) Aside from cost and tone is there any disavantage to using only
platinum? Luis mentioned that the DMax is lower for Pt than for Pd? Can the
DMax be controlled by treating the paper? To what extent the DMax can be
improved by Pd before running into grainniness (if such an effect does
indeed occur)?
6) Are there special methods for local value control WHILE printing
(dodging and burning) for the process? I read that Paul Strand used a
magnifier to burn. Are there any light sources out there powerful enough
(in the right part of the spectrum) to allow traditional local value
control while printing.
7) Any recent news on an EPA crackdown on the sales and use of oxalates (or
other chemicals related to the process)?
Thanks.
p.s. While reading the alt-photo-process archives, I cut and pasted
material I found relevant to Pt/Pd printing into a file. Any Pt/Pd process
beginner who wants these assembled clips can just ask me to E-mail the
file.
______________
Edgar Choueiri
EPPDyL
Princeton University
choueiri@princeton.edu