PLATINUM PRINTS ON SILK

Platinum photographs on silk are infused with a subtle glow reinforced by deep blacks and enhanced depth. A platinum-silk photograph is utterly distinct from the same image printed on paper or a fabric such as cotton. And for permanence paper prints cannot begin to compare with silk. The oldest silk with an image on it was found in China, dating back to the 3rd century BC.

I developed a formula for prepping silk to allow platinum salt to reduce to image-forming metal on the fabric. And then I riddled out how to prevent iron in the image from oxidizing and permanently binding with the platinum -- an entirely new chemical clearing process. As a result, I am the only person in the world who can print a photographic image in pure platinum on silk.  

Below are two platinum prints. On the left, platinum on habotai silk and on the right platinum on paper. The silk print is sharper, crisper, and more three-dimensional. And those tulip highlights glow.

Platinum on Habotai Silk

2 Platinum on Legion Revere Platinum Paper

REQUESTING A PLATINUM PRINT ON SILK

You can choose either habotai silk or taffeta silk for your print. Habotai is for delicate, nuanced subjects (as shown above) and taffeta for contrastier, nightitme subjects. I can make a recommendation after viewing your negative. 



Alamo at Night. Platinum on Taffeta Silk.

Borders around printed images may be either of overbrushed irregular areas or clean with no border whatsoever.

NEGATIVES

Clients must provide their own negatives: my studio does not prepare negatives for printing. Your negative can be either an original or copy film negative of the size to be contact printed, or an inkjet or other digitally generated physical negative of the size to be contact printed. IMPORTANT: an inkjet negative from a digital file will likely not display the platinum glow. That is because digital does not record sufficient high spatial frequency information. Only a film original or copy has that high spatial frequency. Also note that any scan from an original film negative maust meet a certain minimal resolution as well. A 35mm film negative that was captured with a lens resolved on the film 100 line pairs per millimeter would have to be scanned at 5000 dpi. A 120 2 1/4x 2 1/4 negative that was exposed with a 50 line pairs per millimeter would require scanning at 5600 dpi. The formula is double the line pairs per millimeter to arrive at pixels per millimeter. Then multiply the pixels by the width of the negative in millimeters. The required scan resolution quickly becomes unmanageable and even beyond the range of all but the most advanced (eg Hasselbad, etc) professional scanners. Without the high spatial frequency information your print will not have "the glow".

Please note that my platinum solution requires almost 3 weeks to "cure" after mixing before it is ready to print on silk. And that window of readiness lasts less than one week.  

Platinum-silk prints are shipped in "acid free" panels. Silk should be stored or displayed in contact with pH neutral, never alkaline-sized or acid-sized, materials.

To order a contact print in platinum on silk, email me at ptsilk@outlook.com or call my cell 850-401-2835