JAIC 1995, Volume 34, Number 1, Article 2 (pp. 11 to 32)

CHEMISTRY AND CONSERVATION OF PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM PHOTOGRAPHS

ADAM GOTTLIEB

ABSTRACT—The Stieglitz Colloquy in May 1993 drew attention to the deterioration of platinum and palladium photographs, even though the former is considered to be among the most “permanent” photographic techniques. The chemical composition of the two types of photographs is clarified to aid the conservator in distinguishing the prints and determining the types of deterioration they might be subjected to in the future. The prints are chemically characterized by three means: by searching the available literature for references to processes, beginning in the 1850s; by re-creating the processes according to the recipes; and by developing a method using energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy to carry out elemental analysis of the metals used in the processes, thus allowing the chemical compounds that might have originally supplied the raw materials for the processes to be inferred.

Article Sections:

1. INTRODUCTION
2. PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM PHOTOGRAPHIC PROCESSES
3. RE-CREATING THE PALLADIUM PRINTING PROCESS
4. ANALYSIS OF PLATINUM AND PALLADIUM PHOTOGRAPHS BY ENERGY DISPERSIVE X-RAY SPECTROSCOPY
5. FUTURE DIRECTIONS
a: References , Author Information

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