What is a gelatin silver print?

-- Christina Reilly (tcreil1@banet.net), January 26, 2001

Answers

Just a fancy name for a regular film print. :-)

-- Johnny Motown (johnny.motown@att.net), January 27, 2001.

Yes, Silver-gelatine is one of the most used B+W types of print. Other types are Platinum prints, Kallitype print, Cyanotypes who are all B+W processes but are not silvergelatine prints.

-- Marc Leest (mmm@n2photography.com), January 29, 2001.

Yes, it's Art-gallery-speak for plain, old fashioned, fibre based bromide paper. I suppose it's used to distinguish it from resin coated paper, but it's still a pretentious and poncey name. It would be much more honest and informative if the make and type of paper was announced. Portriga rapid, grade 3, or whatever.

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), January 30, 2001.

Why do you think RC paper is not silver gelatin?

-- Matthew Hunt (mph@astro.caltech.edu), January 30, 2001.

The archivists try to catagorise everything and this term helps them distinguish this style of image from all the other styles. Whether it is a fancy name is a personal view point and should be pointed out as such.

-- Lee Carmichael (click@flash.net), January 30, 2001.

Following the 'categorise everything' line of reasoning, and given the difference in archival permanence from fibre based paper, then RC prints should be called "Silver gelatine/polymer" or just "Silver polymer".

-- Pete Andrews (p.l.andrews@bham.ac.uk), February 01, 2001.