Although the first recorded use of albumen in photographic printing came in an anonymous contribution to the magazine 'The Athenaeum' a few weeks after Henry Fox Talbot's announcement of his photographic process, the method suggested then gave only poor prints and was probably very little used. The use of albumen was also suggested in the first real textbook of photography, Robert Hunt's Popular Treatise on the Art of Photography (Glasgow, 1841). However, paper prints made in the first decade of photography (1840-50) were salted paper prints, although possibly some of them contained albumen.
The first practical albumen printing process was developed and published by the French photographer Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard in 1850. Blanquart-Evrard had previously produced improved calotype negatives using albumen, and his positive printing method, where the salt was dissolved in the egg white (with a little water) enabled the production of prints with greater contrast and maximum density than plain salted paper prints.
It is hard to distinguish many early albumen prints from salted paper prints with any certainty. They remained essentially matte prints, especially where the albumen was diluted with more than a small amount of water, although the albumen may give some slight gloss, depending on the way it was treated. Prints of greater than average brilliance from the 1850s are sometimes described as 'albumen prints' although it would probably need chemical tests to distinguish which contained albumen, and which were simply excellent examples of salted paper prints.
The albumen process evolved as different workers experiments in the preparation of albumen, producing even greater brilliance and also a glossy finish. Albumen has to be 'de-natured' to give a smooth coating on the paper. At first this was done simply by whipping with a fork until a smooth liquid was obtained (the froth formed was removed) but later techniques included leaving the material for some days to ferment, and heating it. These gave a smoother coating on the paper and a glossier finish.
The commercial manufacture of albumen paper began as early as 1854, but became an important industry in the 1860s and later, and was concentrated around the two paper mills that produced paper of suitable quality, at Rives in France and Malmedy in Belgium (then a part of Germany.) Rives and Saxe (as the Belgian paper was known) provided most of the paper used for albumen printing around the world, although some of their paper was coated with albumen in Britain, the United States and elsewhere.
By the 1870s, Dresden in Germany was the major site for coating albumen paper, exporting it to the world. Most of the paper was actually tinted with dyes, with a pale pink suitable for a flesh-tone in portraits being the most popular. All of the dyes used were fugitive, and albumen prints no longer show these colours, though some that were on tinted paper now have a rather dirty light buff rather than white highlights.
By 1865, most photographers were buying prepared albumen paper, mainly for glossy prints. This kept well, but was not light sensitive and the photographer had to sensitise it before printing by floating the sheets on silver nitrate solution, and allowing them to become dry to the touch. Prints had to me made from the treated paper within a day or so.
Two major aspects of photographic industry relied on albumen printing. The stereo photographs popular in Victorian parlours were, from the late 1850s until 1885 almost entirely printed as albumen prints. Cartes-de-Visite, which began as a popular craze in 1859, were also printed on albumen until the 1890s, though most later examples are carbon or gelatino-chloride prints.
Albumen printing declined in the 1890s, partly as photographers began to be more interested in matte surfaced prints, such as platinum prints, as well as other materials designed to give a similar appearance to these, including a new 'matte-albumen' process that combined the use of albumen and starch. This led to a brief revival of interest in albumen printing in the early years of the twentieth century. Other recently introduced printing materials included gelatine and collodion emulsion papers, as well as less usual processes including carbon printing.
Commercial production of glossy albumen paper ceased around 1926, and that of matte albumen in 1929. By that time most photographers had moved to gelatin based papers, either printing out papers or development papers.
Since then, and in particular since the 1970s, photographers interested in producing albumen prints have coated their own papers. Full instructions and practical hints are available from a number of sources, notably the Albumen and Salted Paper Book (1980) by James O'Reilly, now available on-line."
["_notes_technical_details"]=>
string(6791) "These details are not intended as a practical manual for the process. Full details and practical tips are available in various books on the process or alternative processes generally, particularly 'The Albumen and Salted Paper Book'(1980) by James O'Reilly, available on-line, which is probably the basis of most modern albumen printing. Be sure to read and follow all safety precautions if you attempt any historic processes.
From 1865-1929, the great majority of albumen prints were made using factory prepared albumen paper. The job of the photographer would have started at the second stage below, Sensitising Albumen Paper. Modern printers have to start by making their own albumen paper.
Preparing Albumen Paper
1. Fresh hen's eggs are cracked and carefully separated to remove the yolks, and any other material including blood and the stringy tissue, leaving the clear yolk.
2. Ammonium chloride (other soluble chlorides such as sodium could be used) was added, using roughly 1.5% weight/volume (1.5g per 100 ml of albumen) either as a powder or dissolved in the minimum amount of water.
3. The mixture is beaten to a froth with a fork or blender. The physical beating and the addition of chloride both help to 'denature' the proteins in the egg white, producing a smooth liquid. A small amount of acetic acid may also be added to assist the process.
3. The froth is covered and kept in a refrigerator (not frozen) for 24 hours and then strained through muslin.
4. The clear liquid is kept in a closed container in a refrigerator for around one week to further 'age' and is then ready for use. It should only have a slight smell and may have a small amount of sediment (it is fit to use until it starts to smell very strongly, perhaps after several weeks.)
5. The clear liquid is poured off any sediment through a muslin filter into a tray (a depth of around 2 cm is plenty) and allowed to reach room temperature. It helps to add a little detergent at this point.
6. Any thin, smooth 100% rag paper such as Strathmore Series 500, Cranes Kid Finish, Platinotype or Parchment Wove and Arches Platinotype is suitable. A sheet of paper is lowered carefully onto the albumen, checking for air bubbles and getting rid of any that form.
7. The paper is left floating for1.5 - 3 minutes, then lifted, drained and hung to dry. The bottom edge is wiped occasionally to prevent a build up of material there. The back of the paper is marked to indicate which edge was hung at the top.
8. Dry, sheets are piled and flattened under weight.
For a higher gloss, and more even prints, paper is double coated. Before the second coat, the first must be hardened or it will dissolve. .
The albumen coating of manufactured paper was hardened by storing it in a warm room for six months. Most modern workers use a 70% isopropyl alcohol (propan-2-ol) / water mixture. This must contains the same concentration of ammonium chloride used in the original albumen coating. The paper is immersed in the solution for around 15 seconds, hung to dry and flattened again.
The second albumen coating is applied in the same way as the first (steps 6-8), hanging the paper to dry by the opposite edges. The paper will keep for months or years, but should be stored overnight in a fairly damp place before sensitising.
Sensitising Paper
Sensitised albumen paper is best used as soon as it is dry, and loses speed and density if kept, so photographers usually on sensitize the amount they need for the day's printing.
1. The sensitising bath is 12% silver nitrate and is used in a glass tray. For small batches of paper it may be more convenient to sensitize paper by brushing with a stronger silver nitrate solution.
2. Working in darkroom safe lighting or very dim tungsten light, float each sheet of paper for 2-3 minutes, then lift, drain and hang to dry. Add the calculated amount of replenisher – 24% silver nitrate - after every few sheets. For each 8x10 sheet floated, 1 ml of replenisher should be added. Blot the bottom edge of the drying sheets frequently to prevent build up.
3. After all sheets have been sensitised, replenish as necessary and then return the silver nitrate solution to its bottle. The bottle should contain around 15g of kaolin (fine clay) per litre of silver nitrate, and should be shaken to help the clay absorb organic material which otherwise blackens the solution rendering it unusable. Leave the bottle to settle and decant the solution carefully when next it is used.
Printing
1. The negative or plate to be printed is placed in contact with the paper, held together using a printing frame or vacuum frame etc. These allow part of the backing to be hinged back to check exposure while holding negative and paper in position.
2. The sun or any UV light source is used to expose the paper through the negative. Printing times vary depending on negative, sensitised paper and light source but are usually between 10 mins and several hours. Printing is continued until the darkest areas of the print (or the borders) show some 'bronzing' (a metallic sheen.) Prints get lighter during processing.
Processing
1. The print is taken from the frame in subdued light and washed in running water until the wash water shows no sign of cloudiness.
2. Prints are toned in a gold toner. Toning isn't essential, but untoned prints are a reddish brown; toning adds a little density and gives a more pleasing purple brown colour. Considerable experience is needed to judge the best time for toning, as the print changes colour during washing and drying..
3. Prints are rinsed in a few changes of water, then fixed in a weak (15%) sodium thiosulphate fixing bath, made slightly alkaline by a pinch of soda. It is best to use a two-bath sequence, changing the solutions regularly, using each for 4-5 minutes.
4. A washing aid, such as 1% sodium sulphite used for 5 minutes will cut washing times and remove more fixer.
5. After using the washing aid, prints need at least 30 minutes washing in frequent changes of water. Without a washing aid at least 60-90 minutes is needed.
6. Prints are squeegeed and hung to dry, when their final colour and density is clear. They need flattening after drying."
["_notes_preservation"]=>
string(869) "Albumen prints are very sensitive to moisture, and treatment with water increases the print cracking and so is generally inadvisable.
Further deterioration of albumen prints can be minimised by storage at low relative humidity and low temperature. Since alkali increases the degradation of albumen, buffered storage materials should not be used.
provisionally, the use of neutral, high alpha-cellulose paper without carbonate buffering or uncoated polyester and cellulose triacetate for storage.
More recent research has explored the effect of treating albumen prints with water/alcohol mixtures, which are less damaging than water alone."
["_notes_summary"]=>
string(981) "Albumen is the clear 'white' of hen's eggs, and is used to hold the light sensitive salts used to make a print on the top of the paper surface. They can be regarded as a development of the Salted paper print, and there is some overlap between the two processes.
Albumen Prints.
Was the dominant printing process from early 1850s to around 1890
Prints were produced from same-size negative by contact printing
They require a long-scale negative (typically a density range of 2.0-2.5)
Albumen prints usually have a gloss or high gloss surface
They usually show some faded areas and yellowing of highlights
The prints always, or almost always, have some fine crazing ('craquelure') on surface
They are usually on very thin paper (and often show creasing)
Prints are usually brown, brown-black or purple-black, not neutral or cold black.
Prints may be mounted or unmounted.
"
["_notes_photographers_of_note"]=>
string(241) "This list could include most nineteenth century photographers:
Thomas Annan
Eugene Atget
Samuel Bourne
Julia Margaret Cameron
Camille de Silvy
Roger Fenton
Gustave Le Gray
Carleton Watkins"
["_notes_current_use"]=>
string(580) "Recent years have seen a resurgence of interest in albumen printing, although only on a relatively small scale.
As well as modern images, albumen printers also make new prints from old negatives. The long scale of most nineteenth century negatives means that they do not print well on conventional modern printing papers, and may also make them difficult to scan.
However a gelatine printing out paper has been produced by Kentmere in recent years which enables older long-scale negatives to be printed more easily than by using albumen paper."
["_notes_identification"]=>
string(93) "In general examination with a magnifying glass will reveal the typical 'cracking' of albumen."
["_notes_possible_confusion"]=>
string(648) "The overlap between salted paper and early albumen prints is noted above.
Some mechanical processes such as Woodburytype and collotype illustrations, as well as early collodio-chloride and gelatino-chloride prints have been confused with albumen.
In general examination with a magnifying glass will reveal the typical 'cracking' of albumen. Prints that lack this are unlikely to be albumen.
Virtually all vintage albumen prints show some evidence of fading and some yellow staining, particularly in highlights. However many nineteenth century images using other processes also show these signs."
["_notes_thanks"]=>
string(14) "Peter Marshall"
["_exhibition"]=>
string(0) ""
["_catcode"]=>
string(3) "691"
["_image_ids"]=>
string(34) ":5736:8807:7426:10452:10905:11164:"
}
}
