What is platinum printing and why is there so much interest in it?
On his Platinum Editions website, Arkady Lvov notes that platinum printing was the medium of choice of photographers Alfred Steiglitz, Edward Steichen, and Paul Strand. It’s a handmade photographic process in which a light-sensitive solution containing platinum and palladium salts is brushed onto an art paper, dried, and exposed in contact with a negative to ultraviolet light (as shown below). When the exposed paper is placed in developer, the metal salts revert to a metallic state and form the image. The print that emerges from a series of clearing baths consists of particles of precious metals permanently embedded in the fibers of the paper. In Tom Hubbard’s excellent post on The Portland Metro Photographic News blog, Lvov alludes to five reasons why platinum printing is so popular: (1) image permanence due to the stability of the platinum; (2) the evenness of tonal response; (3) the beautiful luminosity and dimensionality of the prints; (4) the perceived value; and (5) the health an
