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The Darkroom Cookbook, 5th Edition
book

The Darkroom Cookbook, 5th Edition

by Steve Anchell
April 2025
Intermediate to advanced
518 pages
14h 4m
English
Routledge
Content preview from The Darkroom Cookbook, 5th Edition

Appendix 2Chemicals

“Photography, in the final analysis, can be reduced to a few simple principles. But, unlike most arts, it seems complex at the initial approach.”

—Ansel Adams, 1948

Most of the chemicals used in the darkroom are safe and biodegradable. For example, the most common darkroom chemical, sodium sulfite, is a high grade of salt used as a food preservative and antioxidant. Borax is often used in laundry detergent, though it is toxic to plants, as are most laundry detergents. Sodium carbonate is used as a food additive for anticaking and acidity regulation.

Perhaps the most environmentally hazardous chemical commonly used is hydroquinone (HQ), found in many film and paper developers. HQ is anaerobic, that is, it absorbs oxygen ...

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Publisher Resources

ISBN: 9781040124031