Salt Prints

Salt printing is one of the earliest photographic processes, invented by William Henry Fox Talbot in 1833 and publicly introduced in 1839. It was the first method to create positive prints from negatives, marking a foundational moment in the history of photography.

• Talbot’s discovery came from experiments with light-sensitive materials and paper.
• By soaking paper in a salt solution and then coating it with silver nitrate, he created a light-sensitive surface.
• The process was widely used through the 1840s and 1850s before being replaced by more stable and detailed processes like albumen printing.

Salt Printing Process

1. Paper Preparation
   The paper is first soaked in a salt (sodium chloride) solution and dried.
2. Sensitizing
   Once dry, it is coated with a silver nitrate solution, which reacts with the salt to form light-sensitive silver chloride.
3. Drying
   The sensitized paper is dried in the dark to avoid premature exposure.
4. Exposure
   The paper is then placed in contact with a negative (usually a large-format one) and exposed to sunlight or UV light.
   The image appears gradually, printing-out rather than developing chemically.
5. Fixing and Washing
   The print is fixed using sodium thiosulfate (hypo) to remove unreacted silver salts, then thoroughly washed to ensure permanence.

Salt prints are known for their soft tonal range, matte surface, and sepia to reddish-brown hues. Each print is unique due to the hand-coating process.

Printed on Canson BVK Rives - Infinity