Synopses & Reviews
Platinum and palladium printing is one of the easiest of the non-silver processes to learn. This guide offers a number of variations, which the photographer can closely control. Photographers interested in learning, or improving upon this process, will find this book an indispensable resource and reference guide. This is an absolute must-have for professional photographers and printmakers.
Inside you will find:
- The three basic phases of printing: sensitometry, chemistry, and mechanics
- Practical information based on the making of over 3,000 platinum and palladium prints, covering everything from making your first print, to the most advanced techniques to challenge experienced printers
- Over 50 duotones of the author's platinum and palladium prints and those of five contributors
Also included for the first time are contributions written by recognized authorities in their fields:
- Pyro and Platinum Printing by Bob Herbst
- Crafting Digital Negatives by Mark Nelson
- Ultraviolet Light Sources by Sandy King
- Custom Platinum Printing by Stan Klimek
- Practical information based on the making of over 3000 platinum and palladium prints
- Includes 50 duotones of Arentz's platinum and palladium prints
- Explains sensitometry as applied to the platinum/palladium process
Review
"If you are seriously interested in the process or have tried it but want to improve, this is the book for you." Amateur Photographer
Review
"If you're interested in these venerable non-silver processes, this book by Dick Arentz is a must-have." Photo Techniques Magazine
Review
An absolute must-have for professional photographers and printmakers wanting get a little 'alternative'
About the Author
Dick Arentz is a fine-art photographer with more than 75 one-person exhibits of his work. He is well known as the authority on platinum and palladium printing and has given more than 30 workshops and seminars on the subject. His work is included in most major museums and corporate collections. In 1969, after amateur activities, Dick Arentz began three years of study with Phil Davis of the Photography Department at the University of Michigan. His interest at that time was in the large format silver contact print. As an informal "thesis," he produced the Death Valley Portfolio in 1972. That was reproduced in a 1973 issue of Camera Magazine. After a sabbatical in Europe in 1973, Dick Arentz relocated in Flagstaff, Arizona where he taught studio and photographic history at Northern Arizona University. In 1978, He was selected by the Arts and Humanities Commission as one of Twenty Arizona Artists. That year he began a six year project which was to be published as Four Corners Country in 1986, partly subsidized by a Edna Rider Whiteman Foundation Grant. The book was reissued in soft cover in 1994. He returned to Ann Arbor in 1980 to study the platinum process with Phil Davis. Because of the lack of published information and the unpredictability of materials, he began researching and writing about platinum and palladium techniques. In 1983, he began to produce negatives with an antique 12x20 Folmer and Schwing Camera. By 1985, major museums and corporations began to collect his work. In 1987, he produced The American Southwest, a limited edition portfolio of 12x20 platinum prints with an essay by James Enyeart. In 1988, desirous of a change in subject matter, Arentz accepted an Isaac W. Bernheim Fellowship to live and work in Kentucky. He began a two year project photographing the Midsouthern states and Appalachia, concentrating on the human effect of the landscape. In 1990, a traveling exhibition and catalogue of that work, Outside The Mainstream, with an i
University of Michigan, Northern Arizona University, Twenty Arizona Artists, Edna Rider Whiteman Foundation Grant, Isaac W. Bernheim Fellowship, National Endowment for the Arts, Phonix Art Museum Triennial Exhibition, National Museum of American Art, Fox-Talbot Museum, Saatchi Gallery, The Columbus Art Museum, The Center for Creative Photography, The Museum of Photographic Arts, The Friends of Photography. Mr. Arentz resides in Arizona.
Table of Contents
Setting Up A Laboratory
The Negative
Chemicals
Paper
The First Print
Calibration
The Platinum And Palladium Print
Advanced Technique
Problems
The Film And Paper Curves
Using The Print Curves
The Speed Tracker
Appendices
Sources
Bibliography