dual prints ornately framed, printed, and toned
using the Orotone process. This very decorative
process consisted of the photographic image being
printed first onto glass plates, the silver then toned
to a rich brown/gold tone. The glass was then
backed with a dusting of fine gold pigment. Once
framed, the images almost shone with warmth from
the layers of gold within the photograph. The
romanticism conveyed in this work had similarities
to the Photo-Secessionists and Pictorialists of the
turn of the century. Alfred Stieglitz, Alvin Langdon
Coburn, F. Holland Day, and Edward Steichen
amongst others used various processes including
gum bichromate, platinum, oil pigment and photo-
gravure to enhance the sense of artifice and craft
within their work. Though some photographers
eventually reacted to the idealistic Impressionism
offered by Pictorialism by concentrating purely on
‘‘straight’’ photography, others were influenced
enough to use toners on their prints throughout the
1920s and 1930s. The work of Edward Steichen
encompasses the evolution of these techniques.
Throughout his early years, around 1900, his desire
to be a painter was reflected in the craft and heavy
brush strokes of his gum bichromates. By 1930 his
acceptance of photography over painting had
moved his style to classical, straight, photographic
portraiture. Between these two opposing methods of
work, Steichen had used toning almost transitionally
to give the colourful impressions of his earlier style
but on photographs dominant with the purity of his
later work.
Photographic technical books throughout the
twentieth century listed methods of using different
toners, which have changed very little since their
discovery. There are two basic methods of toning
a print. Either by the direct action of a toner; the
print colour is changed by its immersion in one
chemical solution (or toning bath), or indirectly
when the print is bleached to remove the silver
content prior to toning. The direct toners all con-
tain formulae based on metal salts and act to change
the print colour (or sometimes just its density) by
accumulating the new metal onto, (or plating), the
silver image. Gold, selenium, and potassium sul-
phide are the best known; however, uranium,
nickel, iron, platinum, and tin are all metals that
have in the past been used. Bleaching the image, or
removing the silver content and replacing it with
another chemical, is the normal method used for
sepia toning. Sodium sulphide and thiocarbamide
are the two main chemicals used, the former less
so today due to its unpleasant, sulphurous smell.
The archival qualities of this process can be
explained by considering what causes prints us-
ually to fade, otherwise the content of sulphide
within the emulsion due to inadequate fixing and
washing, as well as the sulphuric content of envir-
onmental pollution. If a photographic emulsion is
converted to silver sulphide, it will then not be
affected (to a lesser degree at least) by the action
of sulphur as it has already been converted to a
sulphide compound.
Two direct toners that combine metals with a
bleach in a single solution are copper and blue
(which uses ferric iron salts). The red and blue
tones provided by these two chemicals have been
used extensively; however, due to the inclusion of
bleach (potassium ferricyanide) within their content
they have never been considered as offering prints
of any great permanence. Toners containing
coloured dyes have also been used with some suc-
cess though never gaining the same popularity as
the traditional metal based solutions. The process
of multiple toning—using one toner after another—
provides a wider range of colours such as various
reds offered by gold toning a sepia toned print.
However it is probably the archival use of toners
such as gold and selenium that have been their
biggest contribution to twentieth century photo-
graphy. Popularised by photographers such as
Edward Weston and Ansel Adams the practise of
toning black and white photographs purely to
increase the lifespan of the photographic print
has enabled their work to live on and continue to
be appreciated.
MikeCrawford
Seealso: Adams, Ansel; Coburn, Alvin Langdon;
Conservation; Hand-Coloring and Hand-toning;
Impressionism; Photo-Secessionists; Pictorialism;
Steichen, Edward; Stieglitz, Alfred; Weston, EdwardFurther Reading
Adams, Ansel.The Print. New York: Bulfinch Press, 1985.
Cardozo, Christoph, ed.Sacred Legacy: Edward S. Curtis
and the North American Indians. New York: Simon &
Schuster, 2000.
Ephraums, Eddie.Creative Elements: Landscape Photo-
graphy-Darkroom Techniques. London: 21st Century,
1993.
Hudson, Tim.The Master Photographer’s Toning Course: A
Definitive Guide to Creative Toning Techniques. London:
Argentum, 2002.TONING