Black & White Darkroom Techniques
Solarisation
1) Find the correct exposure for a normal enlargement.
2) On a second enlarger set the aperture right down (usually f16 or f22) and raise the enlarger head so that area of the light is larger than the size of the paper you are using. If you don’t have a second enlarger you can use the same one but you must remember to remove the negative before completing step 5..
3) Back on your first enlarger, expose a new piece of photographic paper for half the correct exposure time and then develop for one minute, ensure that the paper is fully submerged but DO NOT AGITATE the developer.
4) Remove paper from the developer and place in a clean dry tray.
5) Go to the second enlarger and expose the paper for 1 – 5 seconds depending on the amount of solarisation you wish to achieve.
6) Return the paper to the developer for the remainder of the time, usually one more minute.
7) Stop bath, fixer and rinse as normal.
© John Williams. February 2009.