Chris Calohan II
Member
Salted Paper Print with Gold Chloride Toner on Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag. This is the first Salt print I've done since June of 2008 when I learned the process at the Santa Fe Photography workshops with Christopher James. This is a fairly straight forward process by which one coats the paper (generally Arches Platine, Bergger Cots 320 or HPR) with a "Salt" solution that can be made with a variety of non-iodized salts in a 2% solution (I've used Himalayan Pink Sea Salt and Himalayan Black Salt which can give a warmer tone or silky dark tone). When the paper has dried, a 12% solution of Silver Nitrate is applied over the sensitizer. Being a contact print process, after the silver has dried, one uses either a curved digital negative or a film negative, emulsion to emulsion, placed in a contact frame (or, two pieces of glass and some heavy binder clips, exposed to the sun for 7-10 minutes, then rinsed in water with at least three exchanges, then fixed with a tablespoon of Sodium Thiosulphate to 1000 ml water. Lastly, rinsed again for 20 minutes. Toning is done with 50 ml of Ammonium Thiosulphate and 50 ml .2% Gold Chloride to 1000 ml of water. Toning can last upward of 20 minutes though this one hit the mark at 9 minutes. With Salt prints, toning is ALWAYS done prior to fixing. I double rinse: 20 min to rid the print of any remaining silver and 20 min after the toning. If one can afford it, a platinum toner makes for a superb tonality range. Alas, gold will be my choice for the time being. ALWAYS wear gloves and safety glasses when working with Silver Nitrate as it can cause blindness as well as turning your fingers quite black for a few days before it wears off. Old clothes or good, heavy duty printmaking aprons are a must.
