The Platinum Palladium Print is indisputably one of the most archival prints ever made. Extremely difficult and costly to produce, platinum prints are the king of all photo processes, each image possessing a beauty, depth, and permanence valued by artists and collectors alike. Durable as steel or stone, platinum metals (platinum and palladium), when properly used, produce images that can last millennia.
History and Renaissance
In traditional development, an artist will use silver in the gelatin or albumen emulsion that is needed to coat the paper and produce an image. With the platinum palladium, the artist applies platinum directly to the paper. Because no gelatin emulsion is used, the final platinum image is absolutely matte with a deposit of platinum (and/or palladium, its sister element which is also used in most platinum photographs) absorbed slightly into the paper. The delicate, rich platinum tones range from warm black, to reddish brown, to expanded mid-tone grays that are unobtainable in silver prints. In the deepest shadows the platinum print still presents information; the platinum whites are delicate, and the depth of the image is alive and three-dimensional. Indeed, it is the extraordinary range of tones that make platinum prints so remarkable.
Today, platinum prints are experiencing a renaissance among fine photographers—just as in recent decades photography has seen a new appreciation as an art form, and a subsequent advancement in value as a gainful investment to collectors.
Notable Artists who have worked with Platinum Palladium: Alfred Stieglitz, Robert Mapplethorpe, Ed Weston, Paul Strand, Imogen Cunningham.
Tyler uses the palladium printing process to produce unique works that possess incredible depth and beauty. As with his dye transfer prints, Tyler hopes to create the largest palladium photographs ever made with the medium. Tyler’s ambitious work makes immortal the important processes of photography’s past.