One day later |
I
don't know about you but sometimes my mind wonders when I am
processing photographs in the darkroom. I just can not help it,
especially when an FB paper is involved, as sometimes it can be
minutes till it is fully developed.
It
was on one of these occasion that I started thinking about how long
it would take for a developed image, but not fixed, to disappear. I
have always thought it would be seconds once you turn on the light.
Don't ask me where I got this notion from it is almost folk law among
film uses. It is known that if you accidentally do it with film it
all go's black straight away. Well the truth is, it can be saved if
you are quick.
So
what about photo paper? Firstly unexposed paper go's pink in day
light and not black as I was expecting. The longer it is in the light
the pinker it gets till it go's a pinky brown colour.
OK!
a developed but not fixed image also degrades the same way but the
image does not fade to black ether. In fact there is not much change
a day later if left out on the table.
What
is the biggest surprise of all nine months later and the image is
just visible. You must bear in mind that it has not been in full day
light all the time. I did notice that it had a couple of books on top
of it for a time. It has well and truly surpassed any of my
expectations. Just go's to show what you think you know may not bear
any relation to the facts.
The images have been enhanced to help show the colour change digitally. The test strip appears in order of age from a couple of days to the last one nearly a year old and still going. I like the effect it has produced on the test strip. The paper is Ilford FB natural gloss. Developed in Ilford multigrade and washed, no stop or fix was used.
Last |
What image looks like when processed properly. |