Platinum and Palladium Printing [Paperback]

Dick Arentz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 8, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0240803779 | ISBN-13: 978-0240803777 | Edition: First Edition

Platinum and palladium printing is one of the easiest of the non-silver processes to learn but it also offers a number of variations, which the photographer can closely control. Platinum printing encompasses three basic phases which are somewhat under the control the photographer: sensitometry, chemistry and mechanics.

This unique book is the only thoroughly comprehensive work on platinum and palladium printing. This exciting method of print-making is explained with an emphasis on technical control not only to manage the cost of materials but also to teach the reader to optimize the variations possible with this process.

Photographers interested in learning or improving upon this process will find this book an indispensable resource and reference guide.



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

Editorial Reviews

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 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From the Author

PDF CD ROM --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Focal Press; First Edition edition (November 8, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0240803779
• ISBN-13: 978-0240803777
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,630,376 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

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 introduction by Merry Foresta, was funded by the NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS.
Arentz continue to publish and teach the techniques of platinum and palladium printing. In 1990, he produced his first text, An Outline For Platinum And Palladium Printing. As a result of his research, he was able to solve a problem that has plagued non-silver printers for years with the formulation of specifications to allow a major paper company to manufacture a paper suitable for these photographic processes. Today, his book, Platinum & Palladium Printing 2nd edition: Focal Press 2004, is considered to be the definitive resource on the subject.
In 1990, Dick Arentz was one of four Arizona artists selected for the PHOENIX ART MUSEUM TRIENNIAL EXHIBITION. In 1992, he was included in Between Home And Heaven, Contemporary American Landscape Photographers, NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AMERICAN ART. In England, During 1994-95, Arentz exhibited at the FOX-TALBOT MUSEUM and A Positive View at the SAATCHI GALLERY. In 1996, he accepted a fellowship from THE COLUMBUS ART MUSEUM to create a portfolio of central Ohio.
In 1998, a collection of his work from continental Europe, The Grand Tour, with an essay by Tom Southall, was published by Nazraeli Press. Nazraeli published British Isles in 2003, with an introduction by William Jay. In 2010. Italy Through Another Lens was published in both English and Italian languages, with an introduction by Lucia Gillard.
In a twenty five year career, Dick Arentz has had over seventy-five one man exhibits in museums and private galleries. Since 1984 has conducted approximately fifty platinum printing workshops, included those at THE CENTER FOR CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHY, THE MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTS and THE FRIENDS OF PHOTOGRAPHY.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Intro into Platinum Printing, May 19, 2000

By 

julie and michael mutmansky - See all my reviews

This review is from: Platinum and Palladium Printing (Paperback)

This book covers platinum and palladium printing in a very logical, thorough manner. If you have never done Pt/Pd, you will get all the introduction necessary to buy a kit and get started. If you have done some, you can move on fairly quickly to the more advanced topics in the book, and get more out of your printing sessions.

The printing method in this book is not for everyone. The methodology in the book is fairly numerically based, and if you like to work by instinct and intuition, this may not be the right approach for you. However, the discussions of available papers, chemical use and hazzards, and other resources listed in the book are worth the price of admission alone, not to mention the exquisite photographs reproduced in duotone.

The photographs are quite inspirational; Arentz is clearly a master image-maker from the printing perspective, as well as having an eye for composition and subject.

There are other books on platinum printing out there (most notably by Weese and Sullivan) but this book is the one resource I keep going back to again and again.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Seems overwhelming, just start with the basic process and get thrilling results!, December 20, 2005

By 

Robert MacKimmie (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Platinum and Palladium Printing, Second Edition (Paperback)

Platinum/Palladium printing has "Wizard of Oz-like" mystique and a sense of mysterious alchemy beyond most photographic processes, but don't fret, it's not that difficult to get started. After my personal hands-on introduction (thank you, William Laven), Dick Arentz provides both the simple path to getting started, and then details comprehensive areas of specialty which he makes pretty helpful sense of. If you are already familiar with Platinum/Palladium, there is enough which has been pioneered in the recent several decades to allow a refresher for old photography hounds. For those starting out, just get the basic kit, read through the core sections of the book several times, then follow the three (3) pages of Chapter 6 - "The First Print". Once you have produced a few Palladium prints, cruise Chapter 7 - "Calibration" which provides a nice mental snack. Then move on to Chapter 8 - "The Platinum and Palladium Print", where having gotten past the panic of getting started, you can actually work out your basic functional understanding of the process. Like when that adult helped you launch on your first bike ride, suddenly you will be moving on your own and starting to get in the groove of the process.

For the silver old-timers, the sensitometry chapter and discussion of Pyro developers will really come into play as you confront the issues of "do I have to choose between making negatives for Platinum or silver ..." Pyro can play equally well in both environments, and was very liberating when I realized that I had a rich path of negative making without conflicts ahead of me. Pyro is an opportunity to evolve once again during this lifetime.

I use 8x10 for my serious work, and with standard films and papers going the way of the buffalo, I now understand what I need to do to use this remarkable process without being on a completely dead-end path.

There are several major advantages to gaining an ability to print Platinum/Palladium:
1. They can't discontinue the product! When you put a small number of drops of specific chemistry in a little cup, evenly coat the paper, expose it to UV light, slip the print into developer for two minutes, clear in three baths for 5 minutes each and then wash - it's like discoving fire as a tool. Pretty basic stuff, but very thrilling!
2. No fixer fumes.
3. You can work with the lights on.
4. You don't need a completely tweaked out darkroom in order to work - a simple space can be transformed into a miracle production facility.
5. It's fun.
6. The prints are beautiful. It will take time to figure it out, gain a vocabulary with the materials and get solid with your workflow, but Dick's book will hold your hand as you take the path towards a new, fruitful printing adventure.

Enthusiasm may inspire you to purchase other books, but this one can get you started successfully, and at the same time, it will provide plenty of sustenance as you grow. Or if you are already knowledgeable, there's plenty to chew on. If you are too advanced and find anything to be critical about in this book, write your own and share it with us!

If it still seems overwhelming to get started, find some fellow photo adventurer so that you can try it out together. Pulling prints on hand coated paper which are archivally stable, have long scale and beautiful physical presence, well, it could make an old dog thrilled about photography again, or simply inspire a newbee with a very remarkable way to make stunning prints. There are challenges, and there are plenty of mysteries, but if you have large format negatives hanging around, or you are boo-hoo-hooing that conventional photography is dying, being replaced by digital, this book will help dry those tears. Get going and happy printing!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic source of knowledge, April 24, 2003

By 

David R. Munson "Good enough isn't." (Chicago, IL, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Platinum and Palladium Printing (Paperback)

I think the previous review of this book pretty much summed things up rather well. I bought this book with minimal to no knowledge of the platinum and palladium printing processes. After having read the book several times now (not because it's hard to understand, but because it's so well done), I feel I've gained a very good handle on the basics of the process, and the information provided is given in such a way as to give you both the kind of knowledge needed to start making your first prints as well as the kind of knowledge needed to refine and grow into the process. I tend to be a very analytical thinkier, and the way the book is organized appeals to my thought patterns. If you're more of a romantic (as opposed to classical) thinker, though, the large amounts of numbers-based technical info may seem a little discouraging. Even if you are, though, I must highly recommend this book, as I think it must be the single most comprehensive and well-produced book on the subject.