Digital BW, The Print

Myron,

Not sure where you got this notion, but speaking as someone who worked at a major photography museum for 10 years back in the 1990s, I can say that this statement, or at least the second half of it, is unequivocally false. As for people outside of museum / conservation communities, which overlap somewhat with fine print and fine art communities, it may be true. 

Here is a quote from an article in the Journal of the American Institute for Conservation that you might find interesting: 

The apparent drop in the use of optical brightening agents for fiber-based papers noted in the period 1965 to 1979 was an unexpected and interesting finding. A possible explanation for this decline is the fact that this period coincides with a major industrywide shift toward the production of resin-coated (RC) papers. Made with a bright white base of titanium dioxide–pigmented polyethylene, these papers had quicker processing times and improved dimensional stability as compared to fiber-based papers. These attributes formed the basis of a marketing strategy aimed at high-volume professional applications in which increased productivity held great appeal. The introduction of resin-coated paper also occurred during a time when fine art photographers, such as Ansel Adams and Minor White, were paying increased attention to print quality and materials. Adams wrote that he did “not personally favor the image quality of RC papers” (Adams 1983, 43). Given this context, it seems possible that paper manufacturers responded to photographers who sought to contrast commercial applications with fine art printmaking by offering a greater range of fiber-based papers without optical brightening agents.

Here is the link to the article: http://cool.conservation-us.org/jaic/articles/jaic44-01-001.html

Cheers,
Keith

Keith Schreiber
jkschreiber.com




> On Feb 24, 2017, at 4:39 PM, goch@... [DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint] <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
> 
> The use of brighteners does not in itself concern me, since they have be used in "real" photo papers (i.e. silver-gelatin) for a very long time, and prior to the digital-printing fetishization of printing papers no one in the fine print and fine art communities even *thought* about such things.