Do papers have "identities" ?

Hello Everyone,

I am back in the dark room after many years of abandonment! I feel the urge of exploring many different papers, and there are of course many technical information about all of them. What still remains unclear to me is the opinion that people may share about them. I do not doubt that the quality of a print depends in part on the paper that supports it. But should one go for a specific paper for a particular look? Or does everything depend on choice of contrast, exposure, toning etc in the dark room?
I guess films have specific identities. We would go for Velvia for saturated colours, Portra for skin tones, Tri X for a "classic" grain, and so on. But is there anything similar (bnw) papers in the dark room?

All the best,
Ph

Oh yes, take Agfa Rapid for example, chlorabromide papers and I'm sure many will site a lot more.

And which paper is know for which identity? I guess it was the essence of my question

Perhaps you should take a look at the portraits by Karsh and research the papers he used.

To clarify, I presume your looking for insight into papers available today... not the opinions of yesteryear?

Yes, papers do indeed have identities, but mine have moved to a witness protection program and their identities cannot be revealed.

Foma sells a swatch book showing their papers.

cliveh said:

chlorabromide papers

Click to expand...

AFAIK ALL papers currently being manufactured are chlorobromide emulsions. Maybe with the exception of Fomatone which may be a pure chloride emulsion, but I'm not even sure on that.

LinenTurtle said:

And which paper is know for which identity?

Click to expand...

That's for you to find out.
Seriously though; one trap I would warn against falling into is looking for self-proclaimed 'experts' and then doing what they say because it's supposed to be 'correct'. If you ask 10 photographers their favorite paper, you'll get at least 11 responses. Then there's some people who will make blanket statements such as 'portraits should go on warm-tone papers' etc. It's all personal preference.
The best advice I could give you is to first get back onto the horse with regards to printing; pick one paper (doesn't matter much which) and practice practice practice until you can reliably make a print with the desired contrast and without defects. One you've got that down, get a stack of smaller boxes of paper (10 or 25 sheets is plenty to get a feeling for a paper) and start making prints on the different papers. Once you use them side by side, you really quickly start seeing the differences, which are sometimes quite marginal. Side-by-side comparisons with the exact same (as close as you can get) print on different papers will help you spot the subtle differences in surface texture, base color, image tone, gradation etc. Then based on these experiences, make your own choice. And don't forget that other choices such as developer and particularly any toners used also play a (sometimes very big) part.

Take my word for it - don't take anyone's word for this.

Yes. Their indentities are usually on the box.

Their image colour is probably the closest they get to an "identity" Some papers like Ilford warmtone start out quite warm, others like Ilford MG Classic start out a bit more neutral but can be warmed in old developer. I recently got some Ilford ART 300 which certainly has an identity due to its "eggshell" surface, a look I've never seen before.

As noted by others, best way to find out is by finding a printable negative you like, start with a standard VC paper, RC and FB, print at a grade that provides the contrast you like, that becomes your standard. Then move to other brands. Not sure what are readily available in the UK, likely ILford and Foma are well represented, Adox, and Kentmere. Foma is sold under a number of house brands in the U.S. To cut cost you can start with 5X7 in 25 sheet packs. For fun you can host a blind viewing party, have friends look and give feedback on the surface, tone, and contrast, RC vs FB. And, using a cold or warm tone developers also makes a difference. The one brand that I think had a really different look is Slavich. Being a Russian company unless you some old stock may not available in the UK or US in the foreseeable future.

Agfa Classic Matt had a wonderful "identity." Very subtile, nuanced, easily toned. Slightly fragile compared to Ilford. If anyone knows a paper that comes close, please let me know.