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 ALTERNATE
PROCESSES IN
PHOTOGRAPHY
Technique, History, and Creative Potential

Brian Arnold

New York | Oxford

Oxfor d U niv ersit y Pr ess

00-Arnold-FM.indd 1 12/1/16 11:00 AM

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

ISBN 13: 978-0-19-939039-7

ISBN 10: 0-19-939039-8

Printing number: 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed in the United States of America

on acid-free paper

00-Arnold-FM.indd 2 12/1/16 11:00 AM

 Contents
Acknowledgments................................................................ix
Introduction............................................................................xi
Chapter 1 Negatives........................................1
Digital Negatives................................................................1
Required Materials........................................................ 1
Darkroom Negatives.........................................................1
Required Materials........................................................ 1
The Importance of Making Good Negatives............ 2
Historical Introduction...................................................... 3
Traditional Darkroom Options...................................... 6
Digital Negatives............................................................... 8
Primary Photoshop Tools............................................. 8
Contrast Controls: Levels
and Curves................................................... 8
Image Mode....................................................10
Invert...................................................................10
Layer Adjustments............................................ 11
Sharpening.......................................................12
Image Size........................................................12
Negative Supports......................................................15
Acetate...............................................................15
Paper and Vellum............................................15
Pictorico and Other Inkjet Films....................15
Film......................................................................16
Making the Negative..................................................... 16
File Types............................................................................17
Wrapping It Up............................................................... 18
00-Arnold-FM.indd 3
Chapter 2 Paper................................................19
Historical Introduction.................................................... 19
Making Paper.................................................................. 21
Paper Terminology..........................................................23
Tooth.............................................................................. 23
Finish............................................................................... 23
Sizing............................................................................. 24
Acid-Free....................................................................... 24
Deckle............................................................................ 24
Grain.............................................................................. 25
Weight........................................................................... 25
Handmade Paper....................................................... 25
Machine-Made Paper............................................... 26
Moldmade Paper....................................................... 26
Types of Paper.................................................................26
Writing Paper.............................................................. 27
Drawing Paper............................................................ 27
Printmaking Paper....................................................... 27
Watercolor Paper....................................................... 28
Other Options............................................................. 28
Preshrinking......................................................................29
Sizing..................................................................................29
Spray Starch................................................................. 29
Arrowroot Starch.........................................................30
Gesso............................................................................30
Gum Arabic.................................................................30
Gelatin............................................................................31
Other Supports................................................................32
12/1/16 11:00 AM
 iv Cont ent s
Fabrics........................................................................... 32
Canvas.......................................................................... 33
Wood, Glass, Ceramics, and Metal.................... 33
Wrapping It Up...............................................................34
Chapter 3 Salted Paper (Calotype).... 35
Required Chemicals........................................................35
Optional Chemicals........................................................36
Historical Introduction.................................................... 37
Chemistry........................................................................... 41
Sensitizer........................................................................41
Development................................................................ 43
Toner.............................................................................. 43
Fixer................................................................................ 44
Clearing........................................................................ 44
Making the Print..............................................................44
Negatives..................................................................... 44
Paper.............................................................................. 45
Coating......................................................................... 45
Exposure........................................................................ 45
Development................................................................ 46
Toning............................................................................ 46
Fixing.............................................................................. 46
Clearing and Washing............................................. 46
Troubleshooting............................................................... 47
Fading............................................................................ 47
Weak Prints.................................................................. 47
Wrapping It Up............................................................... 47
Chapter 4 Cyanotype................................... 49
Required Chemicals........................................................49
Optional Chemicals........................................................49
Historical Introduction....................................................50
Chemistry...........................................................................54
Sensitizer....................................................................... 54
Development................................................................ 55
Clearing Baths............................................................. 55
Other Chemicals......................................................... 56
00-Arnold-FM.indd 4
Making the Print..............................................................56
The Negative............................................................... 56
Papers............................................................................ 56
Mixing the Sensitizer...................................................57
Exposure........................................................................ 58
Development................................................................ 58
Clearing/Finishing...................................................... 59
Toning............................................................................ 59
Tea and Coffee..............................................60
Borax.................................................................60
Dektol/Print Developer..................................60
Ammonia...........................................................61
Sodium Carbonate.........................................61
Tannic Acid.......................................................61
Troubleshooting...............................................................62
Staining.......................................................................... 62
Weak Prints.................................................................. 63
Wrapping It Up...............................................................63
Chapter 5 Van Dyke Brown.................... 65
Required Chemicals........................................................65
Optional Chemicals........................................................65
Historical Introduction....................................................66
Chemistry........................................................................... 67
Sensitizer....................................................................... 67
Development................................................................ 68
Toners............................................................................. 69
Fixing.............................................................................. 69
Clearing Agents.......................................................... 70
Contrast Control.......................................................... 70
Making the Print..............................................................70
The Negative............................................................... 70
Papers.............................................................................71
Coating..........................................................................71
Exposure.........................................................................71
Development.................................................................71
Toning............................................................................ 72
Fixing.............................................................................. 73
Clearing and Washing............................................. 73
12/1/16 11:00 AM

Troubleshooting............................................................... 73
Dark Prints..................................................................... 73
Light Prints...................................................................... 73
Streaking........................................................................74
Wrapping It Up............................................................... 74
Chapter 6 Platinum and Palladium....75
Required Chemicals........................................................ 75
Optional Chemicals........................................................ 75
Historical Introduction.................................................... 76
Chemistry...........................................................................80
Sensitizer....................................................................... 80
Development.................................................................81
Ammonium Citrate Developer......................81
Potassium Oxalate Developer......................81
Cold Bath Developer.....................................81
Clearing Baths............................................................. 82
Other Chemicals......................................................... 82
Gold Chloride................................................. 82
Na2.................................................................... 82
Making the Print..............................................................83
The Negative............................................................... 83
Papers............................................................................ 83
Mixing the Sensitizer.................................................. 83
Further Contrast Control............................................ 86
Palladium Combined with Platinum........... 86
Gold Chloride................................................. 86
Exposing the Print........................................................ 86
Developing the Print................................................... 87
Troubleshooting...............................................................88
Fogging......................................................................... 88
Solarization/“Bronzing”............................................ 88
Wrapping It Up...............................................................89
Chapter 7 Variations on Platinum
and Palladium...........................91
Kallitype: Required Chemicals..................................... 91
Kallitype: Optional Chemicals.....................................92
00-Arnold-FM.indd 5
Contents v
Ziatype: Required Chemicals.......................................92
Ziatype: Optional Chemicals.......................................93
Kallitype: Historical Introduction.................................94
Kallitype: Chemistry........................................................95
Sensitizer....................................................................... 95
Development................................................................ 96
Toning............................................................................ 97
Clearing Baths............................................................. 98
Fixer................................................................................ 98
Contrast Control.......................................................... 98
Kallitype: Making the Print...........................................99
The Negative............................................................... 99
Papers............................................................................ 99
Coating......................................................................... 99
Exposure...................................................................... 100
Development.............................................................. 100
Clearing Baths........................................................... 100
Toning.......................................................................... 100
Fixing............................................................................. 101
Final Wash.................................................................. 101
Kallitype: Troubleshooting...........................................101
Yellow Highlights........................................................ 101
Streaking...................................................................... 101
Weak or Faded Prints............................................. 102
Ziatype: Historical Introduction................................. 102
Ziatype: Chemistry........................................................104
Sensitizer..................................................................... 104
Ammonium Ferric Oxalate......................... 104
Lithium Palladium Chloride......................... 104
Cesium Palladium Chloride........................105
Ammonium Dichromate...............................105
Gold Chloride................................................105
Sodium Tungstate..........................................105
Tween 20........................................................105
Clearing Baths........................................................... 106
Ziatype: Making the Print...........................................106
The Negative............................................................. 106
Paper............................................................................ 106
Coating....................................................................... 106
Exposure.......................................................................107
12/1/16 11:00 AM
 vi Cont ent s
Development/Processing........................................ 108
Ziatype: Troubleshooting............................................ 108
Weak Prints................................................................ 108
Inconsistent Results.................................................... 108
Wrapping It Up............................................................. 108
Chapter 8 Gum Bichromate....................111
Required Chemicals....................................................... 111
Optional Chemicals....................................................... 111
Historical Introduction...................................................112
Chemistry..........................................................................114
Bichromates................................................................. 114
Gum Arabic................................................................ 115
Other Colloids............................................................ 116
Albumen.......................................................... 116
Glue.................................................................. 116
Watercolors................................................................. 116
Clearing: Sodium/Potassium Metabisulfite......... 116
Making the Print............................................................. 117
The Basics: Working in Black and White................ 117
Negatives.................................................................... 117
Papers........................................................................... 117
Preshrinking...................................................... 118
More on Sizing.............................................. 118
Mixing the Sensitizer................................................. 119
Coating........................................................................ 121
Exposure....................................................................... 121
Development............................................................... 121
Registration................................................................. 123
Clearing...................................................................... 124
Advanced Printing: Full Color.................................... 124
Additive versus Subtractive Color......................... 124
Negatives....................................................................125
Exposing the Print...................................................... 126
Troubleshooting............................................................. 127
Staining.........................................................................127
Development..................................................127
Sizing................................................................127
00-Arnold-FM.indd 6
Paint..................................................................127
Gum Arabic....................................................127
Base Layer.......................................................127
Wrapping It Up............................................................. 128
Chapter 9 Lifts and Transfers............... 129
Required Materials....................................................... 129
Historical Introduction..................................................130
Ideas, Methods, and Techniques.............................. 132
Tape Lifts......................................................................132
Gesso or Gel/Matte Medium Transfers..............132
Acrylic Transfers as Transparencies.......................135
Solvent Transfers........................................................ 136
Inkjet Transfer Prints................................................... 136
Method One................................................. 136
Method Two...................................................137
Wrapping It Up............................................................. 138
Chapter 10 Wet Plate Collodion..........139
Required Chemicals...................................................... 139
Optional Chemicals......................................................140
Historical Introduction...................................................141
Equipment........................................................................ 144
Chemistry......................................................................... 146
Sensitizer......................................................................146
Developers...................................................................148
Fixer...............................................................................149
Varnish......................................................................... 150
Making the Photograph.............................................. 150
Preparing the Plates.................................................. 150
Glass for Ambrotypes................................. 150
Tin for Tintypes............................................... 151
Sensitizing the Plates.................................................152
Exposure.......................................................................153
Development...............................................................154
Fixing the Plates..........................................................155
Washing the Plates...................................................155
12/1/16 11:00 AM

Drying the Plates........................................................156
Varnishing the Plates..................................................156
Turning the Glass Image Positive.............................. 157
Troubleshooting............................................................. 157
Wrapping It Up............................................................. 158
Chapter 11 Liquid Emulsions................... 161
Required Chemicals.......................................................161
Optional Chemicals...................................................... 162
Historical Introduction.................................................. 163
Plates and Negatives...............................................163
Photographic Papers and Printing..........................163
Liquid Emulsions..........................................................166
Making the Print............................................................ 168
Chemistry.....................................................................168
Emulsions......................................................................168
Processing Chemistry................................................169
Preparing a Surface for Coating...........................170
Metal................................................................170
Glass and Ceramics.................................... 171
Wood.............................................................. 171
Coating the Emulsion................................................172
Exposure and Development....................................173
00-Arnold-FM.indd 7
Contents vii
Fixing............................................................................. 174
Clearing....................................................................... 174
Washing...................................................................... 174
Toning/Postdevelopment Processing..................... 174
Troubleshooting..............................................................175
Image Density............................................................. 175
Emulsion Lacks Stability............................................ 175
Peeling and Cracking...............................................176
Wrapping It Up............................................................. 176
Chapter 12 Combination Printing....... 177
Gum Bichromate........................................................... 178
Platinum/Cyanotype..................................................... 179
Cyanotype/Van Dyke Brown.....................................180
Mixing with Printmaking and Transfer
Techniques..................................................................180
Wrapping It Up............................................................. 182
Appendix: Chemical Safety............................................. 183
Bibliography....................................................................... 186
Suggested Websites......................................................... 189
Glossary.............................................................................192
Index...................................................................................201
12/1/16 11:00 AM
00-Arnold-FM.indd 8 12/1/16 11:00 AM
 Acknowledgments

There are a number of people I need to thank, people who provided nec-
essary support and encouragement at different stages of my development and ed-
ucation. First, I thank Charles Walters, Eric Paddock, and Frank Gohlke. If I had
not met these men, I would probably have never become a photographer. I was
also fortunate to study with a number of exceptional photographers while work-
ing to complete my MFA, specifically Abelardo Morell and Laura McPhee, both of
whom instilled some essential questions about and love for photography in my
thinking. Also, I thank both Terri Weifenbach and Robert Adams; although never
in the classroom, both these photographers keep teaching me more and more, in
ways that reflect my understanding both of photography and of myself.
I have also been extremely fortunate to have a number of wonderful col-
leagues over the years. I first thank Roger Freeman and Steve Tourlentes, both of
whom took some chances to help get my academic career started. I also thank
Leslie Bellavance at Alfred University and Kaja McGowan at Cornell, who gave
me office space to help complete this book. At the Eastman House, I thank Ross
Knapper and Joe Struble, who spent hours with me helping to find the right pho-
tographers for illustrating the text. I also thank Diane O’Connor and Rich Barker
at Mohawk Paper and Kathleen Flynn at Dieu Donné for the opportunity to see
and learn more about paper production as both an industry and an art. I also
thank Christine Serchia, my biggest fan and greatest supporter for so many years.
I have also been fortunate to have great and challenging proofreaders. Rich-
ard Sullivan has provided valuable assistance at every step of this project and gave
insight into my chapter on ziatype and kallitype printing. Richard and his wife,
Melody Bostick, have provided hospitality and support in so many ways, out of an
obvious love for photography and its many forms. John Coffer is an incredible re-
source for photographic history and techniques and lent support in my writing on
wet plate collodion photography. I also thank Laurie Snyder and Mark Osterman
for looking over different chapters at various stages of this project. Geoffrey Ber-
liner’s wealth of knowledge on photographic history and technique proved inspi-
rational at a time I needed to work through some struggles in pulling this all
together.
I also thank the photographers who contributed pictures to this book, many I
have admired and many I am grateful to call long-time friends: Andrea Modica,
Emmet Gowin, Joni Sternbach, Accra Shepp, Paul Graham, Lois Conner, Willie
Osterman, France Scully Osterman, the Getty Museum, the Colorado Historical
Society and the Denver Public Library, Laurie Snyder, John Wood (in memory),
Carol Wood, Tony Gonzalez, Dan Estabrook, John Dugdale, Zoe Zimmerman,

00-Arnold-FM.indd 9 12/1/16 11:00 AM

 x Acknowl e d gment s

Christina Z. Anderson, Clarrisa Sligh, Tom Delooza, Erik Kessels, Penelope

Umbrico, Sarah Carman, Kate Stalter, Katie Wong, George Louden, Tanya Marcuse,
Kenro Izu, Brenton Hamilton, Bea N ­ ettles, Deborah Luster, David Prifiti (and
Gallery Naga), and Carl Weese. I also thank many wonderful students, who have
taught me a lot over the years; a couple of them offered pictures for this book.
All of these contributions helped make this a much better book. I also thank Nick
Marshall, Alison Nordström, and Lisa Hostetler at the Eastman House and Tate
Shaw at Visual Studies Workshop.
It goes without saying that I need to thank my wonderful family. I have two
remarkably accomplished, generous, and supportive brothers, Dan and Chris,
and an incredibly supportive and creative sister-in-law, Edie Carey. My mom and
dad—well, I cannot say enough about the support they have offered for oh so many
years now. And then I have a wonderful family I call home, my wife, Farr Carey,
and my amazing children, Sadie and James.

00-Arnold-FM.indd 10 12/1/16 11:00 AM

 Introduction

It was close to 20 years ago, but I still remember it vividly. I was taking a
week-long, intensive workshop on photographic printmaking taught by Frank
Gohlke (Figure I-1). We spent our time together working on advanced silver gela-
tin techniques—bleaching, toning, using print brighteners—and were also intro-
duced to a few other of what we called alternative processes: palladium, kallitype,
and cyanotype. Many of these techniques have continued to be a part of my life’s
work, but that is not what I remember most.
About halfway through the workshop, at the end of a long day of printing,
Frank pulled out some boxes of photographs he brought along to show us. This
was an important time in Frank’s career; Measure of Emptiness had been recently
published, and he was still involved in making his photographs of Mount

F I-1: A photograph from the

series Measure of Emptiness,
pictures of grain elevators
made in the Midwest. © Frank
Gohlke, 1975; courtesy of the
George Eastman Museum.

00-Arnold-FM.indd 11 12/1/16 11:00 AM

 xii Int ro duction
F I-2: When I first started
photographing seriously, I
began by working from the
Colorado landscape, largely
based on things I learned
working at the archives of the
Colorado History Museum. All
my photographs from that time
were palladium prints printed
under the sun. Petroleum
Refineries in Commerce City,
CO, 1996. Photograph by the
author.
00-Arnold-FM.indd 12
St. Helens, rephotographing some of the original landscapes he made during his
initial survey of the eruption. He showed us his prints from these projects. And
then he also showed us pictures he had collected from friends and colleagues: Eric
Paddock, Lois Conner, Robert Adams, Paul Caponigro, and Walker Evans. As he
spoke of these pictures, he was full of wonderful wisdom, intelligence, and love. It
hit me like a ton of bricks: I knew I had to know more about this way of
thinking.
Close to this time, I landed my first job in photography, working in the photo
archives at the Colorado Historical Museum. My first day there, the chief curator
in the department, Eric Paddock, came down with a small selection of 20 × 24
glass plate negatives made by William Henry Jackson and the Detroit Publishing
Co. (Color Plate 1). He gave us two days to print the negatives. There were three of
us working in the darkroom, and it took all of us to handle and position the nega-
tives. These were a remarkable couple of afternoons: To see the skill and tech-
nique that must have gone into making such large negatives; to see these views of
landscapes in Colorado I had known all my life; and to share in these experiences
just by helping to make the prints. That really sealed the deal; I knew I was a
photographer.
Working in the museum offered a number of other resources and learning
opportunities. In addition to housing the William Henry Jackson and Detroit
Publishing Co. archives, it was here I first saw photographs by Timothy O ­ ’Sullivan,
Laura Gilpin, and Lee Friedlander, as well as my first albumen prints, tintype
albums, and carte-de-vistes.
It was a couple of years down the road before I set up my first photographic
studio. I was young, recently out of college, and working for minimum wage. I
knew from these past experiences that I did not need expensive equipment to
make photographs. I was living in Denver at the time and knew it would be easy
to print my photographs under the sun (Figure I-2). I bought an inexpensive 4 × 5
camera. Then, I went to a junkyard north of the city and got a used, stainless steel
sink and finally salvaged construction materials from my dad’s business for coun-
tertops and built my first darkroom for around $100.
Despite my lack of resources, I wanted to make pictures as well crafted as the
photographs Frank showed us that afternoon. I made gum bichromate and platinum/
palladium prints under the sun. I did this on my own for several years, working
with simple resources and trying to
make beautiful printed photographs
about my home in Colorado.
I like to tell all young and aspir-
ing photographers that although each
of them has a camera in pocket (is it
possible to buy a phone without a
camera now?), none of them knows as
much about photography as they
think. To illustrate this point, I turn
my classroom into a camera obscura
(a trick I learned from Abelardo
Morell while working with him
during my years in graduate school;
Figure I-3). It is not difficult: make
the room light tight and then make a
small, circular hole for light to come
in. Yet without fail, the students are
12/1/16 11:00 AM
 Introduction xiii

dumbfounded when they see an image from the outside world projected on the
room’s wall and without the aid of any technology. I then go on to talk about how we
reached photography today, showing them different cameras and talking about the
evolution of photographic techniques and processes.
There are more photographic possibilities and processes available to the pho-
tographer than most recognize. It has been more than 170 years since Henry Fox
Talbot (1800–1877) and Louis Daguerre (1787–1851) secured patents for the first
photographic processes. And in those years, the drive to make pictures has gone
down many roads, and many processes have come and gone. What we today call
alternative processes typically references photographic techniques that never had
any commercial applications. Despite having no commercial appeal, many of
these processes continue to be used today because they provide unique ways to
feed our imaginations and to reflect our experiences.
I firmly believe that real photographic literacy today means looking at and
knowing as many photographic techniques as possible. In my teaching practice, I
try not to prioritize any photographic technology; I introduce and encourage
techniques from the 19th century to the present. In this transitional period, as F I-3: Camera Obscura Image
photography becomes more and more digitized, I often regret how quickly and of Museums across the Street in
easily we forgot what we once knew. I believe that the more tools and techniques Our Bedroom, 1991. To make
one has as a photographer, the greater the photographic vocabulary and thus the this photograph, Morell turned
the room into a camera
more possibilities available.
obscura using black plastic
Photographs, in my mind, are still objects, and I make a distinction between with a small hole cut into it
photographs and images. The image is an essential part of the photograph, per- over one of the windows and
haps the most essential part, and yet the photograph is an object that exists in a then placed a camera in the
physical form. What is represented in a photograph is always an essential part of room and made an eight-hour-
its meaning—and I repeatedly emphasize to my students that this is the most long exposure of light moving
through the hole and into the
important part of any photographic inquiry—but the process with which the pho-
room. The picture is about the
tograph resolves also gives it meaning. As the maker, you develop your own rela- most basic phenomenon of
tionship to an image through process (and I do believe this helps give life to the light and photography.
picture). But also, how the photograph looks and ages is part of how we derive © Abelardo Morrel, silver
meaning from an image. In pursuing my work over the years, I have always tried gelatin print; courtesy of the
George Eastman Museum.
to find new ways to emphasize my
inquiry into what the form of the
photograph can be.
In teaching photography, I like
to encourage the same from my stu-
dents. Any real practitioner will
make unique contributions to any
photographic process and use the
rules and procedures as guidelines
and suggestions, ultimately finding
a unique approach. Alternative pro-
cesses necessitate such thinking.
The processes are more idiosyncratic
and particular than most of the
mainstream photographic tech-
niques. Typically, the students I see
excelling the most in my courses are
the ones that can read the text and
follow directions and then learn
from the materials and processes
themselves.

00-Arnold-FM.indd 13 12/1/16 11:00 AM

 xiv Int ro duction
F I-4: The Ring Toss is now an
iconic photograph in the
history of the medium, as well
as a classic example of the
Pictorialist style. Clarence H.
White, platinum print; courtesy
of the George Eastman
Museum.
00-Arnold-FM.indd 14
I finished my graduate education in photography in 1998. Digital photogra-
phy had arrived, but most of the photographers I knew and studied with still were
not taking it seriously. A short time after that, digital exploded on the scene. The
repercussions of the digital revolution are many. The field is completely different
now, at least in regard to the materials that define the popular uses of photogra-
phy and the ways in which we interact with pictures. There were and still are
contrary opinions and movements, however. Different schools of photographers
responded to the development of digital imaging by going back and redefining
how they had conceived of photography from the beginning, as a chemical, hand-
made process. Prominent artists like Chuck Close and Adam Fuss (Color Plate 4)
rediscovered daguerreotypes; Abelardo Morell pursued his camera obscura pho-
tographs (pictures about primitive photographic phenomena—see the example
earlier in this chapter); and Sally Mann (Color Plate 3) began working in wet plate
collodion. Such trends and movements continue today as, with the continued
march toward digital photography, many practitioners find their needs met work-
ing with unique handmade techniques and large-format cameras.
A study of the history of photography shows that similar bubbles and trends in
which alternative process work emerged to help define the medium have happened
time and again. In the early 20th century, a school of photographers we call the Picto-
rialists emerged. The Pictorialists—
with leading photographers like
Henrich Kühn (Color Plate 7), Robert
Demachy, Clarence White (Figure I-4)
(Color Plate 31), Alfred Stieglitz, and
Alvin Langdon Coburn (Figure I-5)
leading the charge—sought to have
photography legitimized as a fine art.
To do so, they tried to make photogra-
phy look like other fine arts, working
primarily with classical themes of
landscape, women, children, and love.
They also employed a number of the
handmade alternative processes,
using different paper supports to help
facilitate a painterly look.
Many of the photographers
who later led the transition into
­Modernism—among them Edward
Steichen (Color Plate 64), Edward
Weston (Color Plates 5 and 32), and
Paul Strand—began working in the
Pictorialist vein before ultimately
rejecting it in favor of the emerging
Modernist aesthetic (Color Plate 5).
Today, the Pictorialists are often triv-
ialized, largely because they ignored
the unique characteristics of photog-
raphy in their imitation of other
artistic forms and appearances.
Nonetheless, their work helped pave
the way for a broader cultural under-
standing of photography as a fine art.
12/1/16 11:00 AM
 Introduction xv

Again, in the early 1970s, alterna-

tive process photography played an
important role in defining the medi-
um’s identity. The 1970s are often
called the Golden Age of Photography.
The medium underwent a number of
important transformations at this
time. The debate as to whether pho-
tography could or should be consid-
ered a fine art continued. Historians
and critics like John Szarkowski,
the curator of photography at the
Museum of Modern Art, and Nathan
Lyons, the founder of the Visual Stud-
ies Workshop and curator at the
George Eastman House in Rochester,
provided important leadership. They
worked to establish important collec-
tions of photographs and organized
insightful exhibitions that demon-
strated what the medium had to offer
the greater cultural discussion. Addi-
tionally, photography emerged in
universities and art academies across
the country, and it became a part of
Master of Fine Arts programs. Pho-
tography was still relatively cheap to
pursue and even cheaper to collect,
and important cultural resources
were given over to help voice the grow-
ing potential of the medium and its
audience. Influential photography F I-5: Another example of
programs like the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of New Pictorialist-era photography.
Mexico had students and faculty developing work in alternative processes, with new Coburn was a master printer,
and innovative work being produced by photographers like Bea Nettles (Figure I-6), reflected in this gum
Betty Hahn (Color Plate 28 and Color Plate 41), and Todd Walker. And then, in 1979, bichromate and platinum
combination print. The Tunnel
William Crawford published his important book The Keepers of Light, perhaps the
Builders, 1907, Alvin Langdon
first of many texts and working manuals devoted to alternative process photography. Coburn; courtesy of the George
Any photographic process has a history longer than that recorded by its in- Eastman Museum.
vention or patent. Part of my fascination with photography is how it mixes chem-
istry, optics, and art. The development of any photographic process we know
today is the result of contributions from all of these fields.
Each chapter in this text describes a different process, beginning with a brief
historical introduction. In no way are these intended to be complete or decisive
histories, but I do think it is important for any practitioner to have some sense of
the history of the medium. There is plenty more information to be found if you are
interested in looking further into any of these processes.
After these brief histories, each of the chapters provides an overview for get-
ting started with the different techniques. These include information about chem-
istry, negatives, paper, application, and troubleshooting. Additionally, I have
provided some visual examples by both historical and contemporary artists work-
ing in each of these processes.

00-Arnold-FM.indd 15 12/1/16 11:00 AM

 xvi Int ro duction
F I-6: A detail from a unique
artist’s book made by Bea
Nettles. Bound in a three-ring
binder, this print is gum
bichromate with magazine
transfers, applied color, and
hand stitching, all on buckram
cloth. Padded Parades (detail),
1971, © Bea Nettles.
00-Arnold-FM.indd 16
It is important to note that each
of these techniques requires a
hands-on approach to mixing and
using chemistry. (There are distribu-
tors that sell premixed kits, but you
can save a great deal of money by
learning to mix and handle chemis-
try on your own.) This requires care,
caution, and responsibility. Any
chemistry you receive in the mail
should come with a Material Safety
Data Sheet (or MSDS); this informa-
tion can also easily be found online.
It is important to recognize the par-
ticular characteristics and follow the
precautions necessary for handling
each of the chemicals. If you are put-
ting a studio or workspace together
at home, you should consult with
your local authorities about chemi-
cal handling and disposal. Not all
chemicals can go down the drain!
Part of the initial attraction to
alternative process photography for
me was expense. High-end inkjet
printers can sell for many thousands
of dollars, not to mention the other
gear necessary for processing photo-
graphs. Technically, one can make a
camera out of shoebox and then pro-
cess photographs under the sun;
photography need not be an expen-
sive endeavor.
In assembling an alternative process darkroom, perhaps the most important
issue is a lighting source. With one exception, the printing techniques used in this
book require printing with ultraviolet light. The best source for ultraviolet light is
the sun. My earliest work in alternative processes was done in Colorado, where the
sun was a reliable source. Depending on where you live, you might need to look
into artificial lighting sources. Some practitioners, even in regions with good, re-
liable sunlight, prefer artificial lighting sources, mostly for the continuity they can
provide. There are a number of different alternatives.
The cheapest and most common lighting sources I have seen are uncoated
black-light, florescent bulbs. These bulbs are relatively inexpensive and can pro-
vide even illumination over a large area. Sunlamps, manufactured for tanning,
can be used, although these lamps have a tendency to create substantial heat,
which can create complications in printing. Mercury vapor and metal halide
lamps can be used as well. Art schools are often equipped with plate burners or
graphic arts printers. These units typically have mercury vapor bulbs and often
have vacuum systems for optimal contact. They are a great source for alternative
process printing, but they are expensive.
Once a lighting source is determined, the equipment needs for an alternative
process darkroom are minimal. Sinks can be expensive, particularly if you are
12/1/16 11:00 AM
 Introduction xvii

considering the stainless steel models with temperature control. (If you are devel-
oping film, temperature control is important.) I bought my first sink for about $20
in a junkyard. Many photographers save money by building sinks out of wood and
then lining them with epoxy or plastic resins.
The last thing I recommend for an alternative process darkroom—short of the
standard equipment of timers, drying screens, etc.—is a good-quality scale.
Learning to weigh and mix your own chemistry can be satisfying (photography
can still be alchemy) and can also save you a great deal of money.
Every time I teach my course Alternative Processes in Photography, I like to
include an essay by Edward Weston called “Seeing Photographically.” In the essay,
Weston criticizes photographers who get too caught up in technique. What really
matters, he says, is that you are making the images you want, the images connect
with your experience, and that you have enough control over the technique that
you can repeat the results. Seeing photographically means understanding your
materials enough that you can previsualize your pictures. If you can develop this
capability, it does not matter whether your technique is good or bad, but simply
that it is true to your vision.
It is easy for photographers working with alternative processes to become
obsessed with technique. Many of the processes are unforgiving of poor tech-
nique. Anything worth knowing and doing takes a great deal of time to learn and
to develop any kind of proficiency. Working in alternative processes in photogra-
phy takes patience and perseverance. Yet once you have the techniques down, it
can provide a unique and satisfying way to pursue photography and creative life.
This book is intended as an introduction to the processes, and there is much more
about each of them you can learn. Each practitioner will develop his/her own ap-
proach, and in my mind this is a necessary part of owning and previsualizing a
photographic process. This book will give you the tools, resources, and ideas to
begin working in an alternative processes darkroom.

Learn More
• Lyle Rexer’s historical text, Photography’s Antiquarian Avant-Garde,
provides a greater look into how alternative processes developed in and
after the 1970s.
• Burning with Desire, by the historian Geoffrey Batchen, argues that pho-
tography was more than the result of individual genius and creators,
rather, the product of extensive cultural inquiry.
• The historian Larry Schaaf has compiled a series of letters exchanged be-
tween William Henry Fox Talbot and Sir John Herschel in a book called
Out of the Shadows. These exchanges provide insight into the work of
these early pioneers.
• “Seeing Photographically” by Edward Weston is reprinted in Classic
Essays on Photography, edited by Alan Trachtenberg.
• For more complete information on light sources, I recommend the web-
site unblinkingeye: http://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/Light/light.html.

00-Arnold-FM.indd 17 12/1/16 11:00 AM

00-Arnold-FM.indd 18 12/1/16 11:00 AM
 1
Negatives

With few exceptions, the printing processes outlined here require contact print-
ing, meaning the size of the print is the same as that of the negative. This chapter
will cover several methods for making large-format negatives, emphasizing digi-
tal options.

Digital Negatives
Required Materials
• Digital capture (camera or scanner)
• Photoshop (or similar image-processing software)
• Printer
• Negative support materials (paper, film, acetate, inkjet film, etc.)

Darkroom Negatives
Required Materials
• Orthochromatic film
• Black and white enlarging equipment and chemistry

When working digitally, the image is first brought into Photoshop

and then adjusted for scale, contrast, mode (RGB, CMYK, grey scale, etc.), and
sharpness. Before being printed to the primary support, the image is inverted to
negative.

01-Arnold-Ch01.indd 1 11/30/16 10:44 AM

 2 Chapter 1 N e gatives

When using darkroom methods, first a black and white negative is enlarged to
the scale of the final print. A film positive is produced directly onto the orthochro-
matic film (or film that is sensitive to all visible spectrums of light except red). Be-
cause of their sensitivity, these films are unique in that they can be used under red
safelights (please note, red, not the usual amber lights!), which allows for an easy
working process. This film is processed like any black and white paper, meaning
that once exposed, the sheet of film is processed in a developer bath, stop, and then
fixer. The film should then be processed in an agent for clearing out the fixer and
finally washed. Once the film positive is correctly developed, washed, and dried, it
is contact printed to a second piece of ortho film to produce the final negative.

The Importance of Making Good Negatives

Studying alternative process photography often necessitates a greater under-
standing of photographic technique and theory. In many ways, the processes
discussed in this book are simpler than most photographic processes. But in
others ways, these processes are more demanding and less forgiving, especially
when first getting started. I have never been one for studying densitometry or
other theoretical methods to explain how to make good negatives; I prefer a
more intuitive and visual understanding. Nonetheless, I think it is important to
understand how negatives are made and to know something about the tools for
evaluating them and understanding how they will translate into different kinds
of prints.
It is important to emphasize a photographic truth: good negatives make good
prints. That said, I want to mention again the essay by Edward Weston, “Seeing
Photographically.” It is worth quoting at some length, but before doing so, it is also
important to understand that although Weston is talking about the technologies
of his time, he is still talking about the same distractions we face today in terms
of understanding photography as both a technical and a creative medium (two
things that sometimes converge but are not always the same):

This very richness of control facilities often acts as a barrier to creative work.
The fact is that very few photographers ever master their medium. Instead
they allow the medium to master them and go on an endless squirrel cage
chase from new lens to new paper to new developer to new gadget, never stay-
ing with one piece of equipment long enough to learn its full capacities, be-
coming lost in a maze of technical information that is of little or no use since
they don’t know what to do with it.
Only long experience will enable the photographer to subordinate tech-
nical considerations to pictorial aims, but the task can be made immeasur-
ably easier by selecting the simplest possible equipment and procedures and
staying with them. . . . The photographer must learn from the outset to regard
his process as a whole. He should not be concerned with the “right exposure,”
“the perfect negative,” etc. Such notions are mere products of advertising my-
thology. Rather he must learn the kind of negative to produce the kind of
print. . . . With practice this kind of knowledge becomes intuitive; the pho-
tographer learns to see a scene or object in terms of his finished print without
having to give conscious thought to the steps that will be necessary to carry
it out.

01-Arnold-Ch01.indd 2 11/30/16 10:44 AM

 Historical Int ro duction 3

Although Weston wrote about the black and white techniques and crafts that
defined the discourse of his day, his words are still remarkably valuable and in-
sightful. Indeed, more than ever it is easier to get lost in technology rather than
making the right investment to understand a limited set of tools and, in turn, use
that investment to develop real sensitivity and creative vision.
Weston suggests something else extremely important here: previsualization.
I often make a distinction between making and taking pictures. Taking pictures
is passive, simply grabbing photographs from the things around you without in-
voking any critical thought or creative goal. Making pictures is active and re-
quires more understanding and engagement or, as Weston describes, the ability to
see the end result before even beginning. In working with alternative photo-
graphic processes, that begins with understanding negatives.

Historical Introduction
Until the development of digital photography, with just a few exceptions, making
photographs meant producing a negative before making a positive image. (The
exceptions are daguerreotypes, wet plate collodion positives, Polaroids, and slide
film.) There is no denying that the digital era has pushed the evolution of photog-
raphy extremely rapidly, although it is important to understand that photography
has been in a state of constant transformation since its inception. Although
­William Henry Fox Talbot was not the first to patent a photographic process, he
was the primary inventor of the method that came to dominate the medium for
more than a century: the two-step process of making negatives before making
positive prints (for more information, see Chapter 3 on salted paper printing).
Since this process was released to the general public, photography has existed in
a state of constant transformation and development.
The first photographic negatives were made on paper in the process that
Talbot developed in 1839 (Figure 1-1). However, users of Talbot’s system quickly
realized that it had a number of different limitations. When compared with the
rich, detailed images provided by daguerreotypes, the completed photographs

F 1-1: Rome, view of the Roman

Forum from the Capitol Hill,
1856, unidentified
photographer; courtesy of the
George Eastman Museum.

01-Arnold-Ch01.indd 3 11/30/16 10:44 AM

 4 Chapter 1 N e gatives

lacked detail and rich tonalities. The first improvement was to varnish the paper
negatives with wax, which allowed for more transparency and limited the distor-
tion in the print caused by the paper fibers in the negative.
The next major development in making photographic negatives occurred in
the 1850s, with the development of the wet plate collodion process and the
switch to glass as the primary support (see Chapter 10 on wet plate photography).
Producing negatives on glass resulted in prints with much richer detail and tonal-
ity and allowed for paper photographs to rival those using Daguerre’s process
(Figure 1-2).
Around 1876, two photographic scientists, Ferdinand Hurter and Vero
Charles Driffield, developed a methodology for calculating the sensitivity of a pho-
tographic emulsion. Their work resulted in the methods of sensitometry and
densitometry known today. Sensitometry provided a way to measure the amount
of silver exposed and developed in a photographic process, whereas densitometry
provided a way to measure the accumulation of silver on the exposed surface,
calculating the optical density of an exposed negative or positive. These discover-
ies paved the way for some important advances in photographic emulsions and
films, resulting in the ability to measure, produce, and market films with different
speeds. This ultimately led the way to roll films, film fast enough to allow for
handheld cameras. This might seem like a small achievement today, but the move-
ment from large-format, plate negatives to handheld cameras using flexible roll
film was an essential link in the ongoing democratization of photography.
A film speed refers to its sensitivity to light, typically measured as an ASA or
ISO. The typical speeds range between 100 and 3200; the higher the number, the
more sensitive the film is to light, and thus it requires less exposure. Although
digital cameras do not use film, the same numbers are still used to identify the
camera’s sensitivity to light.
In 1881, George Eastman founded his Eastman Dry Plate Company in
­Rochester, New York, which later was renamed Kodak. In 1885, he released the
first flexible roll films. These products were not made on a clear plastic support.
The light-sensitive emulsion was coated on paper, and during development it was
stripped and transferred to clear, hardened gelatin support for printing. Eastman
released the first transparent plastic film in 1889. These films were highly unsta-
ble and flammable, coated on a surface of nitrocellulose, now typically referred to

F 1-2: Niagara Falls, 1860,

W. & F. Langenheim, courtesy
of the George Eastman
Museum.

01-Arnold-Ch01.indd 4 11/30/16 10:44 AM

 Historical Int ro duction 5

as nitrate film. Plastic films were finally perfected in the early 1900s, when
­Eastman Kodak released the first safety films, an emulsion coated on cellulose
acetate. It was not until 1954 that Kodak released Tri-X film, which has been the
industry standard for black and white film since then. Black and white film con-
tinues to evolve today, with ongoing advances in film speed and grain structure,
as well as the addition of different dyes to the gelatin emulsion to change the film’s
sensitivity to particular spectrums of light.
The basic idea of color negatives is the same as black and white, with oppo-
sites translated into positive images. In a black and white negative, black from the
negative translates as white in the print and vice versa, whereas in color, blue
prints yellow, magenta prints green, and so on. Because this book does not really
cover color photography (although see Chapter 8 on gum bichromate printing), I
will not go into the advancements in color photography in much detail. It is, how-
ever, worth taking a quick look at how color films developed.
Color photography precedes color negative film, dating back to the inception
of the medium. By the end of the 19th century, there were legitimate color photo-
graphic processes, although they were extremely difficult and time-consuming,
requiring multiple negatives and that colors be printed one at a time. In the early
20th century, the first films began to emerge. The first commercially produced
color films were glass plates, Lumiére Autochrome, released in 1907. Autochrome
was an additive color process, meaning that layering the three primaries of red,
green, and blue (RGB) develops a full color spectrum (Color Plate 6). Later, color
slide film was also based on additive color theory. Overexposure in slide film re-
sulted in bleached-out images and color, the opposite of what we have come to
know in photographic exposure. However, Autochrome film was very slow and
incompatible with the emerging trend of handheld cameras (see Color Plate 7).
Modern color film emerged in 1935, when Kodak introduced Kodachrome,
which was developed on the theory of subtractive color. White light consists of

F 1-3: In the early 1990s, the

photographer John Loengard
released a series of
photographs about famous
photographs, specifically
looking at the negatives behind
the pictures. Edward Weston,
Pepper #35p, 1930, Center for
Creative Photography,
University of Arizona, Tucson.
Hands: Dianne Milsen,
5/15/1992, © John Loengard,
1992.

01-Arnold-Ch01.indd 5 11/30/16 10:44 AM

 6 Chapter 1 N e gatives

the entire spectrum of colors. When you shine white light through colored filters
tinted with the three subtractive primaries—cyan (opposite red light), magenta
(opposite green light), and yellow (opposite blue light), or CMYK (“K” stands for
black)—you can create individual colors. The result depends on the amount of
color that is blocked (or subtracted) by the mix of the three filters. Since Koda-
chrome was developed, color film has continued to work on the subtractive theory
of color. (For more on additive and subtractive color, see Chapter 8 on gum bicar-
bonate printing.) (see Color Plates 8 and 9.)
Today, the options for negative production are extremely varied and versatile.
For an example of creative digital negative production, see Color Plate 37. It is still
possible to work with original, large-format camera negatives with a number of
options for enlarging negatives with traditional darkroom practices. The digital
work environment also provides new possibilities for making negatives, with a
broad range of printers and supports available for production. The different print-
ers available—laser, inkjet, and Imagesetters and film recorders—as well as the
incredible array of supports—paper, acetate, and film—all provide unique possi-
bilities for making negatives. Digital options also allow for much easier and
cheaper methods for large-format negative production. Many of the materials
used for making negatives come in rolls for large-format printers.
In 2011, the British photographer Paul Graham released an interesting body
of work, Films, in some ways summarizing the medium of film and photography
up to the day. For these pictures, Graham made high-resolution, tightly cropped
scans of film negatives he produced for previous photographic projects. Through
scanning, each individual grain of silver and color deposit is revealed with in-
credible precision, and the original photograph is no longer visible. The completed
pictures are remarkable abstractions in their own right, but also document the
structure and material of film. In a way, Graham’s Films shows the best of all
photographic worlds, using what is unique about digital imaging to highlight
what is unique about traditional photographic materials (see Color Plate 10).

Traditional Darkroom Options

Although most workers make negatives digitally—for relatively quick, easy, and
cheap production—it is worth knowing that other options are available. For my
work, I have never used digitally produced negatives, although in this day and age,
that is really the only way I teach my students to work.
For most of these processes, I still feel that original camera negatives are the
best option. This means learning to use a view camera, most commonly 4 × 5 or
8 × 10 (although there are a number of other formats). Too often in my mind, art-
ists, students, and teachers overemphasize the scale of the final print, thinking
bigger is better; a well-made 4 × 5 image can be wonderfully successful and diffi-
cult in its own right. The biggest drawback in working with a view camera is ex-
pense; a consequence of the digital revolution is that film prices have definitely
increased. Many photographers—particularly in the fine arts field—feel that the
image qualities offered with film capture remain superior to those with digital
capture. Even if the final print is produced digitally, many will still use film for the
original capture. Film can produce a longer curve from the shadows to the high-
lights and can provide subtle gradients in tonality and color.
There are other reasons to consider view camera negatives. The more genera-
tions of output and translation between the original capture and the final print,

01-Arnold-Ch01.indd 6 11/30/16 10:44 AM

Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
important class was the Samnites, who wore a helmet, one greave, a
guard on the right arm, and fought with sword and shield. The lamps
from Cyprus in Case 5, Nos. 2639, 2642, 2643, are decorated with
figures of Samnites in relief (fig. 128). The Thracian was
distinguished by a dagger which was curved or bent at right angles.
He wore two greaves with leather coverings for the thighs, and an
arm-guard, and carried a little shield (lamp No. 2636, fig. 129). The
hoplomachus seems to have been a variety of Samnite who had a
large shield, and was generally paired with the Thracian (lamp No.
2637, see tail-piece, p. 108). Another class not illustrated was the
retiarius (net-thrower), equipped with a dagger, a trident, and a large
net in which he tried to envelop his adversary, the secutor (follower),
who was armed like a Samnite.
 FIG. 128. SAMNITE GLADIATOR

FIG. 129. THRACIAN GLADIATOR

A combat between a Samnite and a Thracian decorates one of the

lamps (No. 2641). Another (No. 2647) shows a wounded Samnite on
one knee. On a third (No. 2644) a Thracian has brought his
opponent to the ground, and by holding up his thumb, seems to
signify that he will spare him, or perhaps asks permission of the
spectators to do so. A fourth lamp (No. 2651) is decorated with two
swords and two pairs of greaves. Four gladiatorial combats appear
in relief upon a glass cup, made in Gaul in the second century A.D.,
which is on the top shelf of Case 3 (see head-band, p. 106). The
names of the combatants are placed over their heads, so we may
suppose that they represent actual gladiators who were famous in
their day. Gamus, a Samnite, stands over Merops, who is lying on
the ground and holding up his thumb to ask mercy from the
spectators. Next come Calamus, a Samnite, paired with Hermes, a
Thracian, then another pair of Samnite and Thracian, Tetraites and
Prudes. The latter has lost his little shield. In the fourth combat
Spiculus is victorious over Columbus.
 XII
TRADES AND CRAFTS
CASES 1, 3, AND 5

In this division is assembled a series of miscellaneous objects

illustrating trades and crafts, political life, agriculture, and other
occupations.
The processes of agriculture and craftsmanship in Greece and
Italy were much like those of Europe and America a century ago,
before mechanical devices became common. Cultivation of grains,
the olive, and the grape has been practised in Aegean lands from
prehistoric times. A bronze farmyard group in Case 3 shows the
animals and utensils most necessary to a farmer, and though
Roman, will serve as an illustration of Greek life as well. The animals
include two bulls, two cows, a pig and a sow, a ram and a ewe (fig.
130). There are also two double yokes, a cart, and a plough. The
plough-tail has been lost, but a hole shows the place of attachment.
The remainder is in one piece, though the joints of the rude wooden
original are carefully represented, the pole which is fastened to the
yoke being attached to the share-beam by pegs and the share-beam
to the share by thongs or ropes. This primitive wooden plough is still
used in Greece today (fig. 131). The cart is merely a platform with a
front-board and tail-board, mounted on solid wheels. A terracotta cart
from Cyprus, though of the early Iron Age, is much like the Roman
cart (fig. 132). A small bronze sickle with indented edge from Cyprus
belongs to a type common in Minoan Crete (Case 5). The bronze
shepherd’s crooks in the same case recall the important place held
by the care of sheep and goats in ancient country life. A stone model
of a sheep-fold in Case 40 in the Cesnola Collection, containing
sheep and a drinking-trough, was intended as a votive offering,
probably for increase of flocks.

FIG. 130. BRONZE FARMYARD GROUP

 FIG. 131. GREEK FARMER PLOUGHING

The cultivation of the vine and wine-making for domestic use were
a part of the yearly routine on the farms of Greece and Italy, while
the finer kinds of wine were a valuable article of commerce. The only
object in the collection which illustrates wine-making is an Arretine
bowl in Case G2 in the Eighth Room, decorated with figures of satyrs
gathering and treading grapes. The process of getting rural produce
to market is represented by two terracotta figures of donkeys with
panniers whose counterparts can be seen in Greece at the present
day (figs. 133-134). The conformation of Greece and Italy, and the
numerous islands of the Mediterranean compelled the inhabitants to
accustom themselves to seafaring from the earliest times. A vase
painting and some clay boats from Cyprus are valuable illustrations
of the type of ship in use in the sixth century. A black-figured krater
of that date in Case 1 has three long boats or war vessels painted
inside the mouth. These vessels were propelled by oars, as the
method of fighting made speed essential to them, though a sail was
used when the wind was favorable. Two of the ships have eleven
oars on a side, and the third has nine. The steersman sits in the
stern with one or two steering paddles. The forecastle is surmounted
by a high stem-post, and between the stern and the forecastle runs a
railing or bulwark. The bow projects in the form of an animal’s head,
probably a fish or a boar, and a large eye is painted just above the
water-line. The edge of the krater has been injured so that the sail
has disappeared, but the single mast can be seen, as well as the
sheets and halyards. A ship of this kind regularly has a square sail
and halyards, brailing-ropes, braces, and sheets. Above the stern
projects an ornament rather like the tail of a bird. It was this that was
taken by the enemy as a trophy (fig. 138). The clay boats from
Cyprus in the same case are of a type frequently found in sixth-
century graves in Amathus. Two of them represent merchant
vessels, as is shown by their breadth and deep hulls. The largest
has strakes along the water-line which held the “under-girding” of
ropes used to prevent the planks from springing in stormy weather,
and large cat-heads at the bows to receive the anchor. The
helmsman sits in the stern with his two steering-oars. Of the two
other boats the smallest is a row-boat, and the other has a deck and
a small deck-house (fig. 139).
 FIG. 132. TERRACOTTA MODEL OF A
CART

FIG. 133. TERRACOTTA FROM

CYPRUS. DONKEY WITH PANNIERS

A rude relief on a stone slab from Cyprus (Case 1) is a votive

offering for rescue from an accident in quarrying or mining. Above is
Apollo seated before an altar. Below, a man is hastening to help
another who is standing in front of a large mass of rock or earth.
Between them a pickaxe lies on the ground. Probably the relief
represents a dangerous fall of rock or earth. The inscription runs:
“Diithemis dedicated it to the god Apollo, in good fortune.”

FIG. 134. DONKEYS CARRYING JARS IN PANNIERS, 1922

Very few wooden objects have survived from ancient times, but
examples of the tools used in making them and of metal fittings
remain. The axe-blades from Cyprus in Case 5 and in wall-cases in
the corridor are of almost pure copper. These blades were inserted
in a haft or lashed to a handle. In Case B in the First Room are four
double axes from Crete of the second millennium B.C., and in Case
A in the Fifth Room another of much later date. Handles were
inserted between the two blades, as in the modern hammer. The
chisels, awl, nails, and hinges in Case 5 are Cypriote. In Case B in
the First Room are chisels and an awl, and in Case D 2 several
knives, from Crete. They are especially interesting in that they are
well preserved and of excellent workmanship.
The keys exhibited in Case 5 (figs. 135 and 137) are of three
types. The earlier one is shown with the bolt to which it belongs. The
key when inserted into the bolt pushed upward with its teeth a series
of pegs which fitted into holes in the bolt and took their place. It could
then be used as a handle to pull the bolt backward. The second
consists of a plate provided with notches which lifted a series of
tumblers and allowed the bolt to be shot. The third key belongs to
the type in use today, and as such keys have been found in Pompeii,
they must have been known before 79 A.D. The lock-plate is
perhaps from a strong-box (fig. 136).

FIG. 136. LOCK- FIG. 137. KEY LATER

FIG. 135. KEY EARLY TYPE
PLATE TYPE

Only the balance seems to have been known to the Greeks, but
the Romans made use of the steelyard also. The example shown in
Case 1 does not differ from those of modern times. The hooks and
chains at the end of the rod were used for suspending the articles to
be weighed. Three other hooks, of which two are preserved on
movable rings, were for hanging the steelyard. Each is attached to a
different side. When the steelyard was hung by the hook nearest to
the graduated bar, articles up to twelve pounds could be weighed by
sliding the weights along the bar. The second side of the bar weighs
articles of from five pounds to twenty-two; the third, articles of from
twenty to fifty-eight pounds. The large weight is made of lead
covered with bronze, and weighs two pounds, while the small weight
is entirely of bronze and weighs one ounce (see head-band, p. 109.)
 FIG. 138. WAR-VESSELS. VASE PAINTING

FIG. 139. TERRACOTTA BOAT

There are a number of objects illustrating various industrial

processes in the collection. A fragment of a pottery cup of the red-
figured technique shows the stage at which the figure is outlined with
a broad band of black paint, in order to make a red silhouette, but
the background has not yet been filled in with black (fig. 141).
Several moulds for making terracotta reliefs are shown with modern
impressions made from them; they represent the lower part of a
young man’s figure (Case A in the Fifth Room, fig. 142), a grotesque
of a man, a Medusa head, and a number of symbols, perhaps for
stamping sacred cakes. Another mould, unfortunately fragmentary, is
a chimaera or a goat, a fine and spirited figure (Case B in the
Seventh Room). In Cases C and G2 in the Eighth Room are
examples of Arretine ware, the most beautiful pottery of ancient Italy.
There are also ancient moulds with modern bowls made from them.
Several of the moulds are signed by the makers and by the owner of
the workshop. A small stone mould for casting gold ornaments of the
Late Minoan period is in Case B in the First Room. It has two dies
representing animals, one a bull and the other probably an ibex. The
gold-beater’s block in Case 5 was used for making small ornaments
when many of the same kind were needed. A thin sheet of metal was
laid on the die, covered with wax or lead, and then beaten into the
die with a hammer. There are twenty-two dies on this block
belonging in style to the Roman period. Some gold ornaments used
for borders among the Roman jewelry in the Gold Room were
probably made in this way, but such mechanical devices do not
seem to have been employed in making Greek jewelry of the best
period (fig. 140).

FIG. 140. GOLD-BEATER’S BLOCK

 FIG. 141. UNFINISHED POTTERY CUP

FIG. 142. ANCIENT MOULD AND MODERN RELIEF

The earliest traders of the Mediterranean lands practised barter,

and in the Homeric poems we find cattle and bronze utensils
frequently mentioned as standards of value. In the later part of the
eighth century or the early part of the seventh, coinage originated in
Asia Minor, the earliest coins being merely rough lumps of metal with
striations on the reverse made by the roughened surface of a punch.
In the process of manufacture a flat blank of metal was placed red
hot on a die, a punch was then held upon the reverse of the blank,
and struck with a hammer. As no “collar” was employed, the metal of
course spread at the edges, making the coin only roughly circular.
With the advance of art the coin types received the attention of the
best artists and craftsmen, and in consequence the value of Greek
coins, both as original works of art and as historical documents,
cannot be exaggerated. Roman coins, while not often beautiful, are
an important source of information relative to political and economic
conditions. These facts may be noted with regard to the practical
side of ancient coinage; Greek coins are not dated, they will not
stack, and marks of value are more often absent than present. The
earlier Roman coins resembled the Greek in these features, but,
later, marks of value were added and the date indicated.

FIG. 143. DIKAST’S TICKET

A number of small bronze instruments in Case 5 may have been

part of a physician’s or pharmacist’s case. They include several
probes, one being double (fig. 144), spatulae (fig. 145), spoon-
probes, and two scalpels or bistouries. The spatulae were used for
preparing and spreading ointments, and also by painters in mixing
colors.
The dikast’s ticket gives us a glimpse of Greek city life. It is the
ticket of a juryman, Epikrates, entitling him to sit in the ninth court at
Athens, of which there were ten in all, and to draw three obols a day,
about ten cents, a “living wage,” however (fig. 143).
The statuette of a negro boy in Case C in the Seventh Room is a
reminder of the important part taken by slave labor in ancient times.
This was much greater among the Romans than in Greece. Slaves
were sometimes captives taken in war, or their descendants, but
were more frequently acquired through trade. Their condition was
much better in Greece than in Rome. On the grave stele of a young
man in the Sculpture Gallery (No. 7) a little slave stands beside his
master.

FIG. 144. FORKED PROBE

FIG. 145. SPATULAE

These are, of course, domestic or personal servants, but slaves

formed a large part of the laboring class in Greece, and the
proportion was still greater in Rome in the later Republican period
and under the Empire. They worked on the farms, in the factories,
and, most dangerous occupation of all, in the mines and quarries, as
well as in the workshops of skilled artisans and as clerks and
copyists in private and public offices.
There are many proofs of the existence of an extended and active
commerce in the Mediterranean world, but none is more convincing
than to note the far-distant places in which Athenian pottery has
been found. The cities and tombs of Italy have furnished many of the
most beautiful specimens, but vases have been found in Asia Minor,
Egypt, the islands of the Aegean, and the Crimea. A specimen of
ancient advertising appears on three glass cups signed by the maker
Ennion, a Sidonian (Case H in the Eighth Room). One was found in
Cyprus, a second near Venice, and a third near Nazareth. Each
bears the maker’s signature and the words, “Let the buyer
remember.”
 XIII
BURIAL-CUSTOMS
Greece. The inhabitants of Mycenae and other prehistoric sites
did not burn their dead, so far as we know, but buried them with the
belongings which they had used and valued in life. Members of rich
or princely families were often decked with gold ornaments and
diadems, and the face covered with a gold mask moulded to
resemble the features. Reproductions of some of the objects found
in graves at Mycenae are in Case T in the First Room, and in the
center of the same room is a reproduction of a stone sarcophagus
from Hagia Triada in Crete, decorated with painted scenes
representing a funerary sacrifice.
The people of the Homeric poems burned their dead and buried
the ashes beneath a mound. Both ways of disposing of the body
continued in common use in Greece, the choice resting with the
family of the deceased. Cremation was more costly than burial, and
so was practised less frequently by the poorer classes. At all periods
both Greeks and Romans attached great importance to the proper
performance of funeral rites, as they were believed to affect the
happiness of the soul in the world of the dead.

FIG. 146. MOURNERS AT A BIER.

TERRACOTTA RELIEF

FIG. 147. POET ON HIS BIER (?)

TERRACOTTA PLATE

The body was prepared for burial by the women of the family, who
anointed it with oil and perfumes, and clothed it in the dress of
common life, usually of white. A wreath of flowers, or of laurel, olive,
or ivy was placed on the head, or in its stead a wreath of gold
leaves. Before the funeral the dead was laid on a couch in the
central hall of the house, with his feet toward the house door. His
relatives and friends came to pay their last respects, and the funeral
dirge was sung. An interesting terracotta relief from Attica on the
north wall of the Second Room represents such an occasion. The
women standing by the bier are tearing their hair as they raise their
voices in the lament (fig. 146). The same scene is frequent on
certain kinds of Greek pottery, notably the great Dipylon vases of the
eighth century B.C., which were used as grave monuments. There
are two Dipylon vases in the Second Room in Cases G and L (fig.
148). On the upper band of each is a scene showing a dead man on
a bier surrounded by his family (see head-band, p. 121). An
interesting plate in Case K in the same room is decorated with a
scene which seems to represent a poet on a funeral couch with a
wreath about his head and his lyre hanging on the wall above (fig.
147).
FIG. 148. DIPYLON VASE