by Tillman Crane
Platinum prints are known for their beauty, archival stability and unique, one-of-a-kind print statement. Made from the salts of platinum and palladium, these prints are also called “platinotypes” or “platinum/palladium” prints. Platinum and palladium are noble metals, and resistant to oxidation. The platinum salt emulsion is imbedded into the fiber of the paper during the printing process. As long as the paper remains intact, the print will retain its appearance for hundreds of years.
In the late 1800s, making a platinum print was a commercial process. Photographers bought pre-coated paper from any number of manufacturers including Kodak and Ilford. Creating platinum prints today involves considerable time, effort and materials. My photographs in The Homer Studio Project were made from hand-mixed and hand-coated emulsions. Making prints this way is labor intensive, but it also means that no two photographs are exactly alike. I like to think of them as “monotype” prints from the same negative.
As with many historical photographic processes, the size of the print is equal to the size of the negative. For The Homer Studio Project, I worked primarily with an 8x10 view camera, and created larger digital negatives from which 16x20 prints could be made. When the negative is ready for printing, the emulsions are mixed, coated on the paper with a brush, and dried. Once dry, the negative is placed in direct contact with the paper, and exposed to ultraviolet light for anywhere from a few minutes to more than an hour.
All platinum prints have a matte surface, because the emulsion is absorbed into the paper rather than sitting on the surface. There is also a more gradual change from black to white along its tonal range, giving it a softer feel. The image tone of a platinum print can vary widely in color. The proportions of platinum to palladium in the emulsion, choice of developers and the temperature of the developer control the final colors of the print, which can vary from cool, purple blacks to warm, rich browns. Occasionally emulsion brush strokes can be seen in some of the prints. They should be seen as marks of the artist.
A native of Camden, Maine, photographer Samantha Appleton covered the war in Iraq for much of the first three years. Most of her work there concentrated on Iraqi civilians. She began covering the U.S. presidential campaign in early 2007 for the New Yorker magazine, and became an Official White House Photographer at the start of the Obama administration. She served in that capacity for the next 2½ years.
Many journalists bounce from story to story as dictated by assignment, but Appleton has not been a tourist in her career. Each choice was a deliberate investment in what she thought would be relevant to US history: to cover the civilian side of the War in Iraq after the invasion itself and to take a chance on an unlikely nominee in early 2007. Both stories started from the street level, not offices on high. She trusted what the street told her. History bore those instincts out.
Maine Media has once again partnered with 
Maine Media faculty member Thatcher Hullerman Cook has collaborated on an ambitious book publishing venture with Obscura, a Maine based nonprofit that supports the arts and arts education through publishing, scholarships, and grants.
They also show a people holding onto hope and redemption in the form of the relationships and bonds that tie the culture and the region together. Black Apple is a stunning and moving body of work printed to the highest quality standards of photo book publishing. 
He is also headed to remote northeastern villages in India next week for the destination workshop, 
Come use the new Canon EOS C300 — Maine Media is one of the first places you can get your hands on this exciting new tool for creative cinematography.