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Alternative Photographic Processes - (Hand made photographic -emulsions and processes)

Processes - Kallitype

There seems to be some confusion about the name in some manuals where the Van Dyke is miss-named as Kallitype, while Dick Stevens description of it as a Kallitype process in his book "Making Kallitypes", separates the two, he sees them as related and refers to Van Dyke Brown as a similar process as brown print Kallitype.

Some information suggests that: the Van Dyke Brown and the Kallitype both use a mixture of ferric and silver salts as the sensitiser, but with the Kallitype there is a choice of three different developers, each giving a variation in image colour.

During the age of their discovery, these process were notorious for deterioration, but some of this has since been put down to chemical by products of the process and inadequate paper support bases. Modern acid-free papers give much more permanent results.


Step 1:

As with the Van Dyke Brown process, the sensitiser is mixed under a yellow safe light. Use 50 grms of ferric oxalate, mixed with 50 ml of distilled water.

Step: 2

3 grams of oxalic acid mixed with 50 ml of distilled water.

Step: 3

25 grms of Silver Nitrate, dissolved in 50 ml of distilled water.

Top up to 300ml of water.


The mixing, coating and drying is similar to Van dyke Brown.


Rather than developing in water as for the Van Dyke Brown:

* developing in 24grams of borax, 90 grms of Rochelle salt, and 1.5 grms of potassium bichromate mixed with 950 ml of distilled water will produce a blue black tone. Developing time is 5 mins


Fixing: 50 grms of sodium thiosulphate ( fixer) disolved in hot distilled water and when this has cooled add 12 ml of a 0.88 conentrate of ammonia to make 1 litre.

 

 

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