Platinum-Palladium Prints

The platinum-palladium process is a unique photographic printing process and a signature of the laboratory.

Platinum-palladium prints are characterized by a very wide tonal range and a velvety, iridescent surface. No other process produces such fine shades of gray and deep blacks with unparalleled definition in shadows and highlights on paper.

Only a few still master this technique, which has its origins in the 19th century. Photographers such as Paul Strand, Irving Penn and Alfred Stieglitz used the technique as a form of artistic expression. Due to high raw material prices, this process fell into oblivion and it was not until the 1970s that it experienced a renaissance in the USA and Europe.

The Laboratorium has endeavored to keep the process alive for over 20 years and is proud to be one of the few photo labs still offering the platinum-palladium process today.

We create a digital negative in the desired image size from the original negative. The light-sensitive solution, consisting of platinum, palladium and iron salts, is mixed in our laboratory from elaborately prepared pure and precious raw materials and skillfully applied by hand with a brush to high-quality watercolour paper. The coated paper is dried and then exposed to UV light using a contact process. The exposed paper is then developed, clarified, watered and air-dried. This creates works of art that are also unique.