Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1955-08-07
CAMERA ANGLES
By A. ]. WEDDERBURN
Curator of Photography, the
Smithsonian Institution

curator OF FDOtOkEdphy' VIZ
Smithsonian Institution
There are a number of So
called control processes in
photography which allow the
worker to express himself
fully in terms of pictorialism.
Through control printing his
pictures will stand out from
run-of-the mill prints. One
of the oldest and best is the
bromoil process, which we shall
describe. Then. if you feel
you have the ability, interest,
and time to do some serious
experimenting in bromoll
printing, you can take it from
there. There are a number OF
good books available that ex-
plain the process.
There are variations OF bro-
MOL processing. We will deal
with one Of them. A special
nonhardened bromide paper
may be purchased for making
the print. The print should be
exposed and developed so that
the blacks are kept to dark
gray and the whites slightly
grayish. The rather soft print
should be developed in nom
tanning developer such as
Amidol or Metol-one that has
no hydroquinons.
Remove All Chemicals
After development the print
should be fixed in a non
hardening fixing bath con-
tanning only hypo and potas-
SUM metabisulfate. After
about 10 minutes in the FIX
ing bath wash the print IN
freely running water for 80 to
20 minutes to insure the re-
moval of all chemicals.
After the print has been
thoroughly washed it should
be wiped free of surface water
and hung to dry. Then it Is
ready for bleaching out the
image. This is done by plac-
ing it in q tray Of bleacher
(can be bought already pre-
pared for about S minutes
with constant agitation.
When bleaching is complete,
the print is again washed, this
time for from 10 to Is minutes.
Use a fresh batch Of hypo for
this. Then give the print an
other Commute wash and
then dry it.
Shadow Portions Tanned
This is what has been &C
complished at this stage: The
dark or shadow portions Of the
image have become tanned or
hardened. as are the middle
tones to a lesser degree, while
the white tones have been
very little affected in this re-
spect. The dark and middle
tones will now be more recep-
tive to the linking process than
the whites.
To prepare the print for
linking 1t should be partially
swelled by soaking 1t for 30
minutes in water at about 80
degrees F. This should pro-
duce some slight but discern
ible relief Of the image. If no
image relief is observed an
other soaking in warmer water
will usually produce the de-
sired result. If this fails be-
cause Of excess hardness Of
the water the addition Of a
slight amount Of an alkaline
water softener will do the
trick.
Application of Pigment
Now we have reached the
stage where the image is to
be brought back with applica-
ton Of bromoil pigment. While
this comes in several colors,
including yellow, red, blue
and sepia, black is probably
best for the beginner.
Bromoil inks come in jars
and a very small amount
should be removed from the
container and spread out
thinly on a smooth surface.
Special brushes are required to
apply the pigment to the print
surface.
A comparatively coarse
briStle brush may be used for
applying the initial coat" Of
ink, but a finer sable brush
should be used for fine work
and finishing.
After removing the print
from its swelling bath it should
be placed face up on a water
proof cloth and wiped free of
surface moisture. No water
spots should be allowed to re-
main; these may be removed