Hahnemuhle Platinum Rag – First Impressions

Introduction

First, I would like to thank Carol Boss from Hahnemuhle, for generously sending me a few sheets of this soon-to-be-released new paper to test.

For the last ten years or so, Arches Platine has been my standard paper for platinum/palladium prints. I also use Bergger COT320 as a slightly warmer (paper base color) alternative.

Secrets of the Black Art

There’s been some interesting discussion about salt printing lately, both on the Facebook Alternative Photographic Process group and on the venerable old alt-photo-process email list. I am by no means an expert on the subject, but I did have the pleasure in the late 90s of assisting Michael Gray of the Fox Talbot Museum at a workshop he gave at the Center for Creative Photography (UA Tucson) where I was employed at the time. The discussion on FB primarily concerned toning, while the email group discussion was about sizing (or not) of paper. I made some contributions to the discussions that I have recapped here for easy reference in the future.