Capture
Most of the images on this site were captured with vintage medium format 120 roll film cameras. I use these cameras because of their compact size, portability and square 6cm x 6cm image format:
1. Zeiss Super Ikonta 523/16: a coupled rangefinder folding camera from c. 1952 with a fixed Zeiss 80mm f/2.8 Planar lens.
2. Mamiya 6: an interchangeable lens rangefinder camera from c. 1990 with a 75mm f/3.5 prime lens.

The Mamiya 6 has a built-in light metre, but I find an external one is better for film photography. And I like to keep it as simple as possible with the Sekonic L-398A, a hand-held incident light meter that doesn’t need batteries.

My go-to film is Kodak Tri-X 120 roll film. First released in 1940 and formerly very popular among photojournalists, it is probably the most famous black and white film ever made. Tri-X is known for its flexibility in development, high contrast tones, and gritty grain structure.

As with all black and white film, tiny silver halide crystals embedded in the surface emulsion of the film react when exposed to light, turning them into metallic silver, but the image remains latent until it is ‘activated’ by a chemical developer.

Processing
Photographic processing transforms the latent image into a visible image, makes it permanent, and renders it insensitive to light.

First, the film is transferred from the camera into a developing tank in complete darkness. Any light entering the tank would fog and spoil the film. The tank is designed so that it remains light-tight even when the lid is removed and the lights turned on to pour in the chemicals.

Next, developer is poured into the tank and the lid secured with a tight seal. The tank is agitated - inverted and rotated by hand - for about one minute, then left to stand. Agitation is repeated for about three inversions at each minute interval, depending on the film and developer used. The developer converts the latent image to opaque particles of metallic silver.

Then the developer is dumped into the sink and replaced with a stop solution, which as the name suggests, stops development. Usually this is a dilute solution of acetic acid or citric acid (like lemon juice!). After a minute of continuous agitation, the stop solution is emptied back into its bottle for re-use.

The fixer comes next. It’s poured into the tank and agitation is applied over several minutes before the fixer can be returned to its bottle for re-use. This makes the image permanent and light-resistant by dissolving any remaining silver halides.

Finally, the film is washed for at least ten minutes in fresh running water, before removing it from the tank and being hung up to dry in a dust free place (the wet emulsion layer of the film is like a magnet to dust particles). The film is now transformed into a series of negative images on a strip of acetate.

Printing
Just as with film processing, traditional darkroom printing transforms the latent image captured on paper into a visible image that is permanent and insensitive to light. However, darkroom printing takes place in a light-tight room under red light which does not activate the silver halides in the emulsion layer of photographic paper. After a lot of experimentation with various papers, I tend to stick with Ilford variable contrast, fibre-based, silver gelatine paper, which is simply paper that is coated with a suspension of silver salts in gelatine.

The negative is placed in an enlarger and projected (usually downward) onto a sheet of silver gelatine paper clamped into place on an enlarging easel. During exposure under the enlarger, several different techniques can be used, including dodging and burning, to give more or less exposure to specific parts of the image.

All the analogue prints you see on this site were made using a technique called split-grade printing, where each image is exposed twice: once for the highlights and again for the shadows, enabling more subtle tones to be achieved when required.

After exposure in the enlarger, prints follow a similar sequence to film processing: first into a bath of developer, then a stop solution, and finally a fixer.

Fibre-based silver gelatine prints require at least an hour in a dedicated washing bath. The prints are held upright in a small cage and rocked slowly back and forth in a slow constant stream of fresh water. This frees the emulsion of any processing chemicals and unused silver salts. Otherwise, over time, the prints would stain, discolour and fade.

Digital giclée prints are far less complex and time consuming to produce. First, the negatives are scanned with a high-grade photographic scanner. After minimal digital processing in Lightroom or Photoshop, they are printed using a dedicated photo printer with nine colour inks used to make up the final black & white print. Images can be printed on various papers with different textures that complement the subject, but most I find Epson Archival Matte paper produces brilliant results.

Toning
Toning is the simple process of immersing silver gelatine prints in a toning solution and agitating them gently for a specific time, usually between one to four minutes. This increases archival permanence, intensifies and extends the tonal range, and it can also introduce colour to the image, such as a warm red-brown or purple. The change in colour depends on the chemical make-up of the photographic emulsion being toned.

All the analogue prints on this site have been toned in a bath of selenium solution for four minutes. This converts any remaining metallic silver to silver selenide, which is more stable. After toning, prints require a final wash in a water bath for at least an hour to remove any residual chemicals.

Spotting
Spotting is a type of retouching that camouflages minor flaws in the dry, finished image. It involves a keen eye, sometimes with the aid of a magnifying glass, fine brushes and a range of dyes that vary in shade from black through grey to pale grey. The dyes are available in bottles or impregnated onto dry cards (a brush dipped into water is drawn across the card to dissolve the dye).

White spots are usually caused by particles of dust sticking to the negative or paper during exposure. The spots are gradually made darker with delicate and accurate touches using a fine-tipped brush laden with an appropriate shade of dye. Several applications of weak concentrations of the dye accumulate in the gelatine layer of the paper, eventually blending the spot into the surrounding colour of the image. Black spots are usually caused by holes in the emulsion of the negative and are far more difficult to deal with.