Lith Printing Now Dead? Tim Rudman Lith Printing Newsletter Comes to an End.

[pentaxuser]

Thanks for the follow-up reply It was unfortunately what I had expected in the sense that as you say there are just too many variables to be able to make any "fogged colour test" reliable enough to be relied upon

pentaxuser

 

[jimjm]

Those are very lith-capable papers, good luck!

Last week I used some Oriental New Seagull G2 WT FB in lith, here is the result (sorry for the quality of the picture, not the best lighting conditions).
Fortezo is great (I've got only two packs in 18x24 cm), and so are Polywarmtone and Polygrade.

I love the old Forte Fortezo also. I've made some prints that I haven't been able to duplicate with other papers (yet). Oriental VC FB has also been good and I've been using Fomatone 131 as far as new papers go. I frequently search eBay for old lithable papers to try out.

Fomatone 131 paper, Fotospeed LD20 dev (sadly discontinued), selenium toner:

Old Forte Fortezo grade 3 paper, Moersch SE5 Lith developer:

Old Forte Fortezo grade 3 paper, Moersch SE5 Lith developer::

 

[RJ-]

I don't follow TIm Rudman although from a friend who used to love his lith printing workshops I gather Tim is retiring from lith printing and hoping that others will carry on with a different kind of resourcefulness that he had access to in this generation.

Whether that be eulogising or scavenging old papers and testing out even RC papers which were historically dismissed.... I guess this is why the Reddit and other groups are helpful for sharing ideas about extending possibilities of papers with one another.

Portrait below from the SETTLE! Lith printed exhibition of Diaspora Identity in England of pop singer Jonny Monk last year in London. Printed on Seagull Oriental FB Gd IV under Cold Cathode. This is the Black & White box. The Blue lightning box colour of Oriental Seagull has been the given orthodoxy of lithable papers from the Oriental Seagull stable. I find that all of their FB papers lith easily with the Moersch Masterlith kit.

 

[Carnie Bob]

I don't follow TIm Rudman although from a friend who used to love his lith printing workshops I gather Tim is retiring from lith printing and hoping that others will carry on with a different kind of resourcefulness that he had access to in this generation.

Whether that be eulogising or scavenging old papers and testing out even RC papers which were historically dismissed.... I guess this is why the Reddit and other groups are helpful for sharing ideas about extending possibilities of papers with one another.

Portrait below from the SETTLE! Lith printed exhibition of Diaspora Identity in England of pop singer Jonny Monk last year in London. Printed on Seagull Oriental FB Gd IV under Cold Cathode. This is the Black & White box. The Blue lightning box colour of Oriental Seagull has been the given orthodoxy of lithable papers from the Oriental Seagull stable. I find that all of their FB papers lith easily with the Moersch Masterlith kit.

This print has the creamy glow that is reminiscent of Anton Corjbin printed by Mike Spry back in the day. Finding the right G4 is hard as Oriental changed their formula, I got turned onto slavich by GZ years ago and I currently like printing with Ilford Warmtone emulsion. I got gifted a box of Process FB Lith Semi matt Paper recently and will select a few negs for it.

 

[RJ-]

This print has the creamy glow that is reminiscent of Anton Corjbin printed by Mike Spry back in the day. Finding the right G4 is hard as Oriental changed their formula, I got turned onto slavich by GZ years ago and I currently like printing with Ilford Warmtone emulsion. I got gifted a box of Process FB Lith Semi matt Paper recently and will select a few negs for it.

Gosh Bob. It brings back memories of learning lith printing in school. Indeed - Corbjin was in his heyday and hit me mostly through his photography in beautiful 12 inch vinyl LPs. His mastery of tonal palette rendering the creamy allure, right through to the bewitching bleached starkness of cross-processing colour film (below is his work on singer songwriter, Sam Phillips).

The G4 above is the (less popular) black and white Cadmium free box of Oriental Seagull using the Moersch Masterlith kit (with Lith D). Although this thread concentrates on the disappearance of papers suitable for lith, I've found that the actual process of how we 'lith' - that infectious development - is just as vital to the print as the paper choice.

Perhaps they should be considered in tandem as integral to the lith process as lithable paper.

Slavich and Process I've not tried yet - we got hit with supply limitations in the United Kingdom so I've mostly worked on my old stock of Oriental Seagull GIII/IV & Agfa FB MCIIII for multigrade.

 

[Carnie Bob]

Gosh Bob. It brings back memories of learning lith printing in school. Indeed - Corbjin was in his heyday and hit me mostly through his photography in beautiful 12 inch vinyl LPs. His mastery of tonal palette rendering the creamy allure, right through to the bewitching bleached starkness of cross-processing colour film (below is his work on singer songwriter, Sam Phillips).

The G4 above is the (less popular) black and white Cadmium free box of Oriental Seagull using the Moersch Masterlith kit (with Lith D). Although this thread concentrates on the disappearance of papers suitable for lith, I've found that the actual process of how we 'lith' - that infectious development - is just as vital to the print as the paper choice.

Perhaps they should be considered in tandem as integral to the lith process as lithable paper.

Slavich and Process I've not tried yet - we got hit with supply limitations in the United Kingdom so I've mostly worked on my old stock of Oriental Seagull GIII/IV & Agfa FB MCIIII for multigrade. View attachment 388074

Give Slavich a try if you can get it , was awesome paper

 

[gavinlyons]

I love the old Forte Fortezo also. I've made some prints that I haven't been able to duplicate with other papers (yet). Oriental VC FB has also been good and I've been using Fomatone 131 as far as new papers go. I frequently search eBay for old lithable papers to try out.

Fomatone 131 paper, Fotospeed LD20 dev (sadly discontinued), selenium toner:

View attachment 387919


Old Forte Fortezo grade 3 paper, Moersch SE5 Lith developer:

Lovely set of images, I'm in for a treat then with Fortezo. Admittedly I've only used Moersch Easy Lith and not SE5 yet.

 

[gavinlyons]

Seagull paper is fine and dandy amazing to Lith when you can find it and pay for it. Often taking the risk of purchasing old papers with anything that has 'Brom' in the title will do a good job too. A lot of weird and truly wonderful stuff goes under the radar which is just stellar.

Samum Austron Bromaton Paper – Easy Lith Process | Out of the underpass

Bromsilber BS2 ca. 196x – Easy Lith Process | TU Graz

 

[Dali]

A lot of old papers can lith. The problem is that they lith differently from one brand to the next and results might not be to your liking. Personally, I like results from Kodak Medalist, Cachet Expo G and Kentmere Kentona but I was disappointed by Oriental New Seagull WT and Zone VI Brilliant (all developed with Moersch EasyLith).

 

[gavinlyons]

A lot of old papers can lith. The problem is that they lith differently from one brand to the next and results might not be to your liking. Personally, I like results from Kodak Medalist, Cachet Expo G and Kentmere Kentona but I was disappointed by Oriental New Seagull WT and Zone VI Brilliant (all developed with Moersch EasyLith).

On old paper a lot for the DDR (Former East Germany) papers produced nice cold tones such ORWO. Some of the really old Agfa papers produce such a charcoal like effect. Which I like very much. I suspect the 'Samum Austron Bromaton' print above is an Afga recipe. I've also couple of boxes of Neobrom made in 2000's they are remade from the original Neobrom recipe from 1930s (https://gavinlyons.photography/neobrom/).

 

[bedrof]

Guys, does any of you have experience with old Ilford Bromide B2 1K in lith?
I can get a pack or two in 18x24, but it's a bit more expensive than I'm willing to pay for if it's a trash.

 

[gavinlyons]

How old is it? 60s 70s? My experience with Ilford this age has been positive in terms of traditional prints and Lith.

However 80s/90s papers are hit and miss for Lith

Ilford Plastika is pretty awesome stuff. Never tried Ilford Bromide.

“Fantastika” – Ilford Plastika Darkroom Paper – Gavin Lyons Photography

gavinlyons.photography

 

[RJ-]

Give Slavich a try if you can get it , was awesome paper

Will do thanks for the suggestion ... I'll hunt for a box in Europe!

Guys, does any of you have experience with old Ilford Bromide B2 1K in lith?
I can get a pack or two in 18x24, but it's a bit more expensive than I'm willing to pay for if it's a trash.

Yes - the yellow glossy double weight box. Fogged barely able to register anything above Zone V. Peppercorn and unevenness across all the paper.

The rest of the box was no good for anything other than student chemigrams or exercising the imagination for creative alternatives!

 

[koraks]

I'll hunt for a box in Europe!

Good luck with that.

 

[bedrof]

Ah, we've got plenty of old Unibrom, Bromportrait and Bromexpress paper available at low price, but not all of them lith fine.

 

[hiroh]

Seagull paper is fine and dandy amazing to Lith when you can find it and pay for it. Often taking the risk of purchasing old papers with anything that has 'Brom' in the title will do a good job too. A lot of weird and truly wonderful stuff goes under the radar which is just stellar.


View attachment 388101

Samum Austron Bromaton Paper – Easy Lith Process | Out of the underpass




View attachment 388102

Bromsilber BS2 ca. 196x – Easy Lith Process | TU Graz

I was wondering where I had seen these photos! I’ve watched all your videos on lith—great content.

 

[gavinlyons]

I was wondering where I had seen these photos! I’ve watched all your videos on lith—great content.

Thank you! so nice to hear. I hope I can make a few more videos on Lith.

Image from the weekend from a darkroom session with Easy Lith

 

[Guillaume Zuili]

Are you coming to Toronto in May , if so a visit is in order?

Hey Bob.
Yes I'm coming. Date for the show has not been set yet. Will be good to catch up with you !
G.

 

[Carnie Bob]

Hey Bob.
Yes I'm coming. Date for the show has not been set yet. Will be good to catch up with you !
G.

Guillaume

Fantastic, it will be good to see you again.

Bob