[pure-silver] Re: William Mortensen's Glycin Developer

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Curtis Fant" <surrealistic@xxxxxxx>
To: <pure-silver@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 2004 6:26 PM
Subject: [pure-silver] Re: William Mortensen's Glycin 
Developer


> Mortensen liked more development to put the image on the 
> film vs. more light and less development.  I read once 
> where Mortensen said he would develop the film until right 
> before the emulsion floated off of the film base.
>
   I really wonder how often he did this. Much of 
Mortensen's darkroom work was done by Sherman Dunham, his 
assistant, who also wrote much of his books. Dunham had a 
good, solid, idea of conventional practice, as one can see 
from the Mortensen book _The Negative_.
   Mortensen had some pretty odd printing techniques and did 
a lot of artwork on the prints, perhaps to compensate for 
the awful negatives this very long stagnant development must 
have given him, if he actually used it.
   Glycin as a film developer was usually used in 
combination with para-aminophenol to give increased film 
speed and speed of development with attendant coarser grain. 
I think these old formulas are more of academic interest and 
curiousities than useful, practical formulas and techniques. 
This is not to say that stagnant development doesn't have 
its uses. I believe its used for developing nuclear track 
films and can be used to obtain "compensating" effects by 
taking advantage of the local exaustion of some types of 
developers.
   Some of Mortensen's printing techniques are interesting. 
Full instructions for Abrasiontone are on the Bostick & 
Sullivan web site. Mortensen was an etcher and some of his 
more elaborate productions are more hand art than 
photographs.

---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, CA, USA
dickburk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 

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