Platinum prints on Silk

 

Following on from previous posts looking at different papers used for platinum printing, I encountered a new substrate whilst browsing through an old Christie’s auction catalogue. Two lots by Horst were on offer which stated that they were platinum prints on silk. It went onto to say ‘Although a formal edition was never realized, Horst made a number of platinum prints on silk – no more than five – of each image.’

 

Christie’s 6th October Auction, New York. Click for larger image.

 

I would imagine coating silk with platinum sensitiser would be quite challenging and it almost sounds a bit like ‘Gilding the lily’ however I will reserve judgment until I have viewed the prints in person which I will try and locate. Am sure they would have an interesting and unique reflective quality to them. I believe Sal Lopes printed for Horst when he was alive, perhaps he might know.

Experiments with a new shipment of Japanese papers continue at the studio with some positive results working on recent images shot by Stefan Milev. The amount of detail that is able to be resolved far exceeds prints created on watercolor and printmaking papers that I have used in the past, coupled with the highest dmax I have come across for a single layer print gives the prints a wide and rich tonal range. The image below is a direct flat bed scan from one the many proof prints created.

 

Its always hard to illustrate how the prints look in person on various papers so in future i will upload video’s to give readers a better idea,  as shown below. Click the HD logo to view on a larger player. More to follow.

Platinum Print Texture (Japanese Paper) from DC Editions on Vimeo.