Photogravure
The photogravure process requires a negative as large as the final image and results in an acid-etched copper plate, which is inked to make prints. (Making this particular plate took at least 10 hours, as I enlarged a medium-format negative to produce an 8″ x 8″ positive film, used the positive to make an 8″ x 8″ negative by contact, then applied various gels and acids to a sheet of copper, a task that requires precise timing and close monitoring.)
Palladium/Platinum is considered “The King of Photographic Processes.” A print is made by contact, using a negative equal in size to the desired image. (In this case, I enlarged a medium-format negative to make an 8″ x 8″ positive film and then an 8″ x 8″ negative.) The black brushstrokes surrounding the image are vestiges of the chemicals used in development and are thought to enrich the photograph’s hand-crafted beauty.
Kallitype
Kallitype is made by contact, using a negative the same size as the final photograph. (To make this particular print, I enlarged a medium-format negative, produced an 8″ x 8″ positive film and then an 8″ x 8″ negative.) Kallitype results in a luminous image, quite similar to that of a Palladium/Platinum print. The photograph is bordered by brushstrokes in varying shades of brown, remnants of the sensitizing agent, which includes ferric oxalate, an iron compound. These brushstrokes are believed to enhance the handmade nature of the print.
“Buddha & Wagner,” Karen Treanor, 2004.
karentreanor.com 