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by Ed Buffaloe
In the Jan/Feb 1999 issue of Photo Techniques magazine William L. Jolly published an article on some new methods of print solarization. He indicated he had only tried the techniques with RC papers. However, his thiosulfate solarization technique (also known as border depletion solarization) seems to work quite well with the Luminos Classic fiber base papers, as shown here. The process involves adding a 10% solution of sodium thiosulfate (hypo) to the second (solarizing) developer. We chose our old standby Ansco 130 glycin formula for the first developer in order to assure a full contrast range with strong blacks, and we chose our favorite standard solarization developer, Ansco 120, for the second developer. In order to obtain a duotone effect we added 50 grams
of potassium bromide to the Ansco 120 working solution (one part developer to one part water). The general procedure used was to develop for 60 seconds in the first developer, remove the print to the second
developer, solarize at 70 to 90 seconds, and continue development to about 150 seconds total (2-1/2 minutes).
The print at the top received only a 2-second solarization exposure, which served to add some detail in the sky. Otherwise, the print looks normal and the solarization is detectible only by the
grey border. The other two prints received a 4-second solarization exposure, producing obvious sabatier border effects around the tree limbs. The gold-toned print in the middle came out very nicely,
whereas the selenium-toned one at the bottom seems overdone--less bromide in the second developer might have resulted in a more pleasing, less strident color.
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