Argenta Brom?

[Ross Chambers]

Does anyone know about this no longer made paper? I can find a very few pages via Google search, but they are not very informative. Someone compares it to Agfa Brovira which is a mystery to me as well. Some have used it for lith printing apparently.

Leaping to conclusions I'm hoping that it might be OK for bromoil, the surface has the right feel (not a very scientific observation, I know)

I do realise that it is a bromide rather than a chloride coating, the merits of the two are not so difficult to research.

Any help welcome; I'll try it for bromoil and tell you how it worked in a few weeks.

Thanks - Ross

 

[Ross Chambers]

Well, that stumped everybody (44 of us anyway) I did find some fine art auction results for prints by Man Ray on Argenta Brom and elsewhere a recommendation for its suitability for solarisation use-not what I want to do, it's some time since I turned the light on at the wrong time in the darkroom. Anyway some believe that Lee Miller discovered that technique, but was only the gofer at the time.

Onward!

Regards - Ross

 

[Ross Chambers]

Continuing my soliloquy: the Argenta Brom printed OK for the initial flat, darkish hoping to be bromoil print, although it was quite slow. The information for bromide papers mostly say that it is relatively fast, but maybe age and storage have had this effect. OTH it bleached faster than fresh Fomabrom.

More later.

 

[Halford]

I can't answer your question, but I remember printing on Argenta paper when I was in high school in the 80s. This is the first time I've ever heard anyone mention it since -- I've been wondering what it was I was printing on, and whether I could have made better use of it if I'd been more knowledgeable at the time. (Well of course I could - but really, also been wondering about what its capabilities were)

 

[Ian Grant]

I used some specialist Argenta papers in the 70's which I bought from John Blishen (London), I think they were re-badged, the Maco/Rollei of that era. The original company was a was based in Munchen but closed by the mid 1950's those were the papers Man Ray would have used.

Ian

 

[Ross Chambers]

It gets worse: among the batch of odd and old papers I was gifted was 20-30 sheets of Argenta Photoleinen (photolinen, I believe). It is a fabric surface. That's an investigation for the future.

 

[Ian Grant]

I tried the Photolinen, very nice, it is actually fabric not just the surface and is washable long after processing, I have one image left printed on it and gave it a wash while last in the UK

The emulsion was approx Grade 3 originally, it'll have dropped by now If there's any Opaline that was a B&W high gloss display material coated on an translucent white base for back lighting.

Ian