Photographic Possibilities, 4th Edition

Chapter 10Classic Historic Processes

Salt Prints

According to specialist France Scully Osterman, the technique of making salted paper prints dates back to the early development of photography. In 1802 Thomas Wedgewood and Humphrey Davy used silver chloride to make printed-out images on paper. However, they did not discover a way to make these prints permanent. Several years later, Joseph Nicephore Niepce also made prints on paper using the same process, before starting his investigations into the light sensitivity of asphaltum.

In the 1830s, William Henry Fox Talbot succeeded creating an effective combination of silver nitrate and chloride that he used to contact print images he made with a camera obscura. At this time Talbot discovered ...