Black and White Photography

2. Prepare an area for the reexposure. You can use a plain, low-wattage household bulb (15 watts or so), positioned 3–4 feet above a countertop where the paper sits. A more common technique is to use light from an enlarger. After exposing the paper, remove the negative carrier from the enlarger and lift the head to its maximum height, so there will be a broad spread of light to guarantee even exposure to the entire sheet of paper. Close down the lens aperture to a small f-stop to dim the light for reexposure. (There is no need to do this if the lens is already set to a small f-stop.) Then put a dry towel on the countertop or enlarger base to protect the surface from dripping paper or wet trays. 3. Place the exposed paper in the tray of developer, as you normally would, and agitate. 4. Once the image starts to become visible, remove the paper from the developer. The timing here is important; you will get different results depending on whether you let the paper develop for more or less time. As a general rule, try pulling the print from the developer about one-fourth of the way through full development. If your full developing time is 1 minute, for example, pull the print at 15 seconds; if your developing time is 2 minutes, pull at 30 seconds. Experiment with different times to get the result youlike best. 5. Place the paper on the back of a flat tray or sheet of glass and squeegee off the excess water. (Otherwise, water drops and streaks may be recorded when the paper is re-exposed.) 6. Take the paper, still on the tray or glass, to your enlarger or other light source for reexposure. Position it emulsion side up (with the partially developed image facing the light). 7. Briefly expose the paper to light. The reexposure time is critical and depends on several factors, such as the sensitivity of the paper you are using (for instance, fiber-based papers are generally less sensitive to light than RC papers, so require longer reexposure times) and the intensity of the light (how far it is from the paper, how bright it is, the f-stop you use). Also, reexposure varies from image to image. Experiment with different times, butmost of the time re-expose very briefly—for 1–2 seconds or even a fraction  of a second.

8. Put the paper back in the developer for the remaining development time.

Agitate normally.

9. Stop, fix, and wash, as you would when processing any print.

A photogram is a photograph made without a camera, usually by positioning

objects directly between a light source and photographic paper or film. It’s a

simple technique that’s been around for a long time; in fact, some of the first