Gelatin Silver Process

The gelatin silver process is a black-and-white photographic printing technique in which light-sensitive silver halide crystals are suspended in a gelatin binder coated onto paper, glass, or film, replacing the earlier albumen and collodion processes that used egg white or a nitrocellulose solution as the light-sensitive layer's binder instead. Introduced commercially in the 1870s and dominant by the 1890s, gelatin's superior sensitivity allowed dramatically shorter exposure times than earlier processes, and its stability and ease of mass manufacture as a dry, pre-coated material made modern roll film and the handheld camera practical for the first time. The gelatin silver print remained the standard technique for black-and-white photography, both amateur and fine art, for well over a century, prized by photographers from Ansel Adams to Diane Arbus for the deep tonal range and archival stability achievable in a well-processed print, and it continues in active use by film photographers today.