Albumen Photography:

There and Back Again

Emma Esperon, Alexandra Heidler and
Brandon Fess
History of Albumen
Photography
Louis-Dsir Blanquart-Evrard
Not original inventor, but brought an
improved albumen process to the
forefront of photography

His process was published in the Bullet
of the French Academy of Sciences in
May of 1850

Combined with the wet collodion process, albumen paper
printings offered rich detail, more intense contrast, and sharper
images
Improvement came from the light sensitive silver nitrate and
proteins of the egg whites forming above the paper on its own
layer instead of fibers of the paper
Advantages of Albumen
In the beginning, many photographers made their own albumen prints
Pre-sensitized paper on the market in 1872

Industry and
Economy
Albumen prints made from
Kodak hand cameras in 1888
Rochester, N.Y.
Dresden, Germany became an
industrial hotspot for albumen
prints made for purchase
Dresden offered low cost of
labor, eggs, and paper stock
Many albumen printing factories
used female labor
Dresden, Germany
Eastman Kodak Hand Camera
Composition and
Chemistry
Salted Papers
Paper impregnated with ammonium or
sodium chloride.
Silver nitrate applied before use.
React to form silver chloride.
Excess silver
deposited as image.
Albumen
Egg white
Denatured and acidified.
Adds to image - silver
albumenate.
Keeps image on paper
surface.
Glossy finish to paper.
Paper
Pure cellulose =
rag paper.
No metal or mineral
content.
Only 2 producers:
Rives and Saxe.
Widely exported!
Printing
Paper sensitized -
float on silver nitrate
solution.
Mount in printing
frame with negative
on top.
Place in sunlight.
Toning
Stabilize/darken
image by partial
silver replacement.
Gold alkali most
common.
Yields brown to
brownish-purple
image.
Fixation
Sodium thiosulfate
(hypo) bath removes
remaining silver chloride.
Hypo then eliminated by
sodium sulfite wash.
Any hypo left in the print
leaches sulfur, causing it
to fade.
Yellowing
Inevitable, even in
unexposed areas.
Reason 1
Silver metal left in print
reacts with sulfur in
albumen.
Print slowly yellows and
partially fades.
Reason 2
Maillard Reaction:
protein and sugar in
albumen react and turn
brown.
Preservation and
Storage
Mounting Boards
Unmounted the thin photo paper
curls into rolls
Mounted Photographs are
pasted to boards filled with acidic
wood pulp
The boards acidity leaches into
the photograph making it brittle
and subject to damage
Best Practice is to remove the
acidic mount if possible keeping
care to ensure the safety of the
photograph
Mounting Glue
Common glues used to adhere
the photograph to the mounting
board are gelatin (glue), gum
Arabic, dextrin, additional
albumen, and sometime a mix of
multiple adhesive agents
Fresh starch is the easiest
adhesive to remove and the
most common used
Glue can cause the photograph
to bleach and streak the coloring
Water removal practices cannot
be used because the photo is
fragile
Aqueous Treatments
Water treatments damage the
albumen photographs
Water creates microcracks in the
albumen layer, increasing the
number, depth, and length of the
cracks
Albumen photographs should not
be subjected to aqueous backing
removal, adhesive removal,
surface cleaning, stain reduction,
remounting, humidification, or
other water-based processes
Tinting and Painting
Blue and pink dyes were added
to the albumen layer to
counteract the effects of
yellowing but instead the
pigments fade rapidly and the
yellowing is still visible
Photo developers also painted
details onto the photographs that
fade at a slower rate than the
photograph
The best course of preservation
is keeping the documents in an
environmentally controlled area.
Photographs are Sensitive
Handling
Use gloves
Handle photograph delicately at
the edges
Refer to digitized copy in place
of the original
Turn off lights in the room with
the photograph when not in use
Do not view or handle in the
presence of food or beverages
Archival Storage
Store photographs in acid free,
photograph safe paper folders
Do not store in plastic sleeves
that could capture an imprint of
the coloring from the photograph
Store in a cool dry place
Store in a dark area
Store paper sleeves or folders
with the photographs in an
archival quality box with limited
weight pressing against the
photos
Cold Storage
Albumen photographs fare best
in cold storage at a continuous
temperature and relative
humidity level
Store photograms in moisture-
proof packaging before placing
documents in cold storage
When removing documents from
cold storage allow the
photograms to warm to room
temperature before handling
Photographs are brittle when
cold
Conclusion
Made popular by Louis-Dsir
Blanquart-Evrard
Commercial industries based out
of Dresden, Germany and
Rochester N.Y.
Glossy finish, gold alkali toning
used
commercial ready sensitive
paper widely exported
Unmounted curls, mounted has
acidic paper leaching into photos
Aqueous treatments not
recommended and cause further
damage
Cold storage in moisture proof
packaging.