HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF THE ALBUMEN PRINTING PROCESS IN PHOTOGRAPHY

The albumen printing process is connected to one of the first types of photographic paper, created by William Henry Fox Talbot in 1839. He soaked writing paper in a salt solution, dried it, and then coated it with silver nitrate. This method produced an image when exposed to sunlight.

Soon after, an experimenter named "H. L." used a mixture of egg white and water, also sensitized with silver nitrate, for printing. This method relied on the light sensitivity of the reaction between silver ions and egg white proteins. Although similar to a process published by Robert Hunt in 1831, it wasn't popular due to its lack of beauty and sensitivity.

About ten years later, French photographer Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard improved the albumen printing process by mixing chlorides in egg white, resulting in detailed and contrasted prints. His breakthrough was announced in 1850, and by 1855, albumen paper became the main photographic printing material, thanks to the wet collodion negative process that required more detailed and contrasted paper.

Images sourced from The Historic New Orleans Collection

From 1860 to 1885, albumen paper was the go-to for photography, with a large industry in Dresden, Germany. Dresden had the ideal conditions for production, with access to raw paper stock, cheap eggs, and labor. The paper was coated manually and fermented for higher gloss and easier toning. Photographers initially sensitized the paper themselves until pre-sensitized paper became popular in the 1870s.

Albumen paper was known for its low contrast and struggled with low-contrast negatives. With the introduction of gelatin dry plates, which produced lower-contrast negatives, albumen paper faced competition from new gelatin and collodion printing papers. These new papers were pre-sensitized, had higher contrast, a longer shelf life, and better archival properties. By 1895, they had mostly replaced albumen paper, though some photographers still liked albumen paper for its unique qualities.

I hope you enjoyed this brief insight into the Albumen print!

As always, best of luck!

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