Mordancage with 8×10 negatives

Fully decked out with gloves, respirator, and apron, I spent my Saturday morning playing with the mordancage process. While I had subjected many a print to the toxic and unpredictable bleach/etch process, I had never done it to a negative before. Needless to say, this was a learning experience for me.

I learned that the etch process happens very quickly with film. I learned that if the veiling happens while still in the mordancage solution, it’s been in there too long; say goodbye to the emulsion. I learned not to lay the negatives out on newspaper to dry, and to keep them the hell away from an open window on a windy day. I also learned that I should probably wear safety glasses next time.

Despite the unexpected challenges, I did manage to come up with some decent results. I was surprised at how the images looked in positive form: the images that looked good on the negative looked terrible as a positive and vice versa. Here are scans of all of the negatives after the mordancage. Some are more successful than others.