“What is focus and who has the right to say what focus is the legitimate focus?”
Vivien and Merlin, 1874
Julia Margaret Cameron (British, 1815–1879)
Albumen silver print from glass negative
After its invention in 1850 by Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard, the albumen print would become the predominant photographic process of the 19th century. In archives, historical societies, and museums these prints often make up a majority of the photographs in collections from this era. The formation of an albumen print from a glass plate negative required exact preparation and development; even the slightest error could alter the appearance of the final photograph. The photographer Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) experimented with the focus and exposure time to create portraits that had deliberately soft, whimsical, and painterly qualities. (Great Link: Julia Margaret Cameron: Working Methods)
The creation of an albumen print is closely related to the salted paper print developed by William Henry Fox Talbot. In fact, albumen began to be used in photography only a few weeks after Talbot first published the details of his process. In “The History, Technique and Structure of Albumen Prints,” James M. Reilly notes:
Photographers around the world responded quite favorably to the new printing process, and by 1855 albumen paper had become the dominant photographic printing material. The rapid acceptance of albumen paper was largely due to a simultaneous revolution in the techniques used to produce photographic negatives...Wet collodion negatives demanded a printing paper capable of more detail and contrast than the older plain salted papers could provide. The albumen print possessed increased detail and contrast because the image resided in the compact layer of albumen on the print surface, instead of deep within the fibers of the paper.(2)
The process of creating an albumen print from a collodion glass plate negative begins with a thin piece of paper that is coated with an egg white (albumen) and salt (often sodium chloride) emulsion. Next, to allow the paper to become light sensitive, it is bathed in a wash of silver nitrate. The paper is then dried and placed in a frame that holds the negative and the sensitized paper together. Because albumen prints are placed in direct contact with the negative they are considered to be contact prints.
To expose the image, the frame is placed in direct sunlight until the desired level of darkness is achieved. This could take a few minutes or up to an hour depending on the light conditions. The image emerges as a result of this exposure to light (without the use of a developing solution) and is thus a Printed-Out and not a Developed-Out photograph. To prevent any further exposure of the photograph, the albumin print is rinsed in sodium thiosolfate. To complete the process, gold toning is usually applied to give the albumin print its distinctive color. The gold toning also protects the image from fading.
A
distinguishing characteristic of an albumen print is that, unlike platinum or
salted prints, the image floats above the paper on the albumen emulsion to
create a more precise and clear photograph. It was cheap and competitively easy
to prepare the albumen paper. The paper could then be mass-produced using a
variety of mechanical techniques. This led to the beginning of the mass
production of photographs for general consumption and encouraged a market for
photographic keepsakes.
Bibliography
1. Victoria and Albert Museum. “Julia Margaret Cameron: working methods.” Accessed 17, October. http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/j/julia-margaret-cameron-working-methods/.
2. Reilly, James M.. “The History, Technique and Structure of Albumen Prints.” AIC Preprints (1980): 23-98. Accessed 17, October. http://albumen.conservation-us.org/library/c20/reilly1980.html.
3. Division of Rare & Manuscript Collections, Cornell University. “Historic Photographic Processes: The Albumen Print.” Last modified July 1, 2002. http://cidc.library.cornell.edu/adw/albumen.htm.
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