The Color of Memory

My great-grandparents’ generation passed along many studio photographs that were typical of their generation. In the past, everyone would dress up in their Sunday best for a professional photo session. The result was often a sepia-toned photograph.

I must admit that until recently, I wasn’t aware of the reason for the abundance of these brown photographs. It seems the reason was not purely aesthetic. Early photographic papers weren’t very stable, and the process of sepia toning added a protective layer that improved the longevity and durability of photographs. The fact that so many of these photographs still exist, nearly 100 years later, is proof that this toning process was successful.

The advent of gelatin silver paper in the 1870s provided greater stability for prints, reducing the need for toners. However, all toning processes, including sepia toning, enhance the tonal properties and longevity of photographic prints, regardless of the paper used. As a standard practice, I tone all of my black and white prints in selenium, gold, or sepia-toning solutions. In some cases, I’ve obtained interesting and dramatic results by combining (or layering) these toning processes.

A few of my talented literary friends were given eight minutes to write poems for one of my prints during an ekphrastic writing workshop. Although most of the poems addressed the subject matter of the print, one of them, which I share here, addressed the sepia toning.

Sepia, the Color of Memory
Sepia, the color of memory, driving to my grandmother's house in Franklin, Texas, 
Down country roads.
Sepia, the color of the past going inside,
Old country people, 
white people chatting with you as if you were family,
Homemade jellies for sale on the counter.
Sepia, the color of time slowed down.

Two other poems from this writing class have also been the topic of my posts.

• Rest Stop, On the Road Again
• Rest Stop

Geeking out on the process: Sepia toning is a chemical process that converts the metallic silver in the emulsion of the gelatin silver paper into a silver sulfide compound. Initially, the sepia toner was derived from the ink of cuttlefish. Nowadays, most sepia toning is achieved by completing the following process.

1. The print is bleached (using Potassium Ferricyanide and Potassium Bromide) for one to ten minutes, which removes some of the silver from the print.
   You end up with a print that’s yellow and white. The first time you do this, you feel pretty certain that you’ve destroyed your print.
2. After thoroughly washing the bleach from the print, it’s submerged in a bath of Sodium Sulfide, where the image suddenly changes to a rich sepia hue.
   – The intensity of the toner depends on the time the print spent in the bleach and the type and brand of photographic paper used to make the print.
   – Due to its aroma, this toner is affectionately known as the rotten egg toner.
3. The last step for all toning processes is a 30-minute wash.

As you might suspect, it is always advisable to use tongs when handling prints during the toning process. Good ventilation is also essential. I usually have at least 10 sepia prints in my studio.