I have been doing carbro printing for over twenty five years and carbro printing is a passion for me, I love the texture, the tonal range and the unlimited depth in the shadows. I did the slot canyons in Arizona a couple of years ago. One of those prints is on display at Freestyle in Hollywood, and there are two more carbro prints of the canyons in the collection of Bert Stern in New York. Mr. Stern collects works from two other photographers, Cecil Beaton and Edward Weston, so do I feel humble? Hell yes.

The hardest part was re-inventing the process, as so much of the chemistry had changed as well as the manufacturing of the gelatin. The photo gel is much cleaner than the gel we use in food. One of the early books on carbon printing says to let the gel soak in cold water for several hours, heat it in a double boiler and when it is cold, take a knife and cut off the bottom inch to get rid of the excess hair and bone.

The difference between carbon and carbro is that carbon prints are contact prints made by placing a negative next to a sheet of gelatin that has been immersed in a solution of potassium dichromate and dried in darkness, then exposed to a bright light.

Carbro prints are named because a bromide print is used, so if you want a 16x20 print you make a 16x20 print and put it in contact with a gelatin sheet that has been treated with potassium dichromate, potassium ferrocyanide, and potassium bromide. The silver in the bromide makes the gel harden in proportion to the amount of silver, so a silver-rich paper really helps.

So I found in the very beginning it was very easy to make a carbro print, go in the darkroom, close the door and two years later I came out with a print. You will learn more about photography than you thought possible.