Ask photographer Gary Auerbach the same question and he'll show you lustrous images turned to gold in the sun. Not merely a Midas touch, Auerbach's prints are made with the precious metals platinum and palladium rather than the silver of black and white.
Platinum uses the sun as a potent elixir to preserve an image.
While other light sources such as ultraviolet or a fluorescent lamp can be used, prints made with the sun possess a majestic luminescence. No darkroom is needed to make a print, and the size of the negative determines the size of the image. Watercolor or cotton papers replace light-sensitive photo papers, and no acidic chemicals are used. The developer is no stronger than Coca-Cola, and hypo is not required to fix the print. Platinum prints are contact printed, meaning that the negative is covered with a piece of glass and then exposed, much like a contact sheet is made in conventional photography.