Block Island is a destination I’ll never tire of. In fact, retirement is but a month away and I intend to be on the island for the full month of February hoping for dramatic winter conditions !! This month’s image was taken on South East Beach in the mid ’80s, long before I had any serious darkroom experience much less knowledge. This type of negative design was my foray into large sheet film photography. The Zone System is a systemic method of exposing and processing B&W film popularized back in the 1930s by Ansel Adams and a Hollywood portrait photographer named Fred Archer. Specific exposure and processing allowed the creative photographer a means to manipulate the final photograph in keeping with their emotional response, many times a departure from reality. B&W film and printing offers generous latitude for the creative photographer to alter and steer the final photograph in a given direction. In addition to making specific designs to the negative, the choice of “contrast grade” enlarging paper could significantly guide the viewer’s emotional response. What I would like to share in this blog are the modern advancements that have impacted how B&W film photographers “can, not should” design their negatives. I’ll preface my philosophy by saying many fine B&W photographers still use the traditional Adams’s Zone System of negative design and printing yielding world class results, albeit without the flexibility that my methods can realize.
To begin, traditionally designed Zone System negatives relied on specific negative densities to create the final contrast in the photograph. So, when traditionally designed negatives are exposed and developed to the end result the photographer wishes to convey, the negative fits “properly” on only one paper grade ! Let me quickly address the phrase “bracket”, many beginning photographers, myself included would bracket their exposures in the hopes one would yield the best results. Serious B&W photographers soon out grow that mentality understanding that there is really only one “optimum” exposure and development for a given end result, particularly when using single graded papers. Consider this analogy, your car’s engine is skipping, you bring it to the local mechanic. The problem could be fuel or electrical in nature, the mechanic replaces several suspect parts in the fuel system as well as several components in the electrical system, problem solved !! However, the mechanic has no idea which of the car’s systems were faulty. That mechanic will never grow into a master mechanic, anymore then the photographer who embraces the bracket mentality will grow to advanced levels.
In a very broad sense the Zone System can be broken into two separate parts, Negative Design and Silver Printing. Each is intrinsically married to the other, however, in this Blog I’ll talk more about the printing end of the process with only a final reference to negative design. Up to about the mid ’90s single graded papers were the standard by which fine B&W prints were made and exhibited. Multi-Contrast papers were available but not very well thought of by the best printers. 
Have a look at the photos below showing various single contrast grades of silver enlarging paper, culminating with the box on the top known as “Variable Contrast”, more on those papers later. The idea for different and individual contrast grades is two fold, one reason is the photographer may make an error in exposure or development, in that regard, a less than optimum negative can be “saved” and made to look as though there were no serious errors in exposure and or development, essentially, the photograph can be made to look as the photographer had intended. The second reason, the goal of most B&W photographers is not to produce a “literal” rendering of a given scene. Rather, a creative approach yielding a photograph that otherwise is a departure from reality. Therein lies the beauty, and mystery of B&W, no one is really sure what the original scene looked like to the human eye ! Sadly, supply and demand equals $$ and that always has an impact, at one time there were individual paper grades ranging from 0 – 6 with some brands. See the photo of the Agfa papers, these particular papers are used by a close friend. 
Tim still produces 8×10″ negatives using the traditional “contrast index” negative design, because he uses only one paper no longer manufactured. Both Tim and I consider Agfa’s Portriga Rapid to be the finest silver printing paper made during our lifetime in silver printing. That said, I have seen vintage prints from the 30s & 40s in galleries made by Adams, Weston and others whose luminosity and vibrance is simply not possible with silver printing papers that I have had the pleasure of working with over the last 40 years.
Luminosity and vibrance is best described in one phrase, micro-contrast, or as I believe is more accurate, Mid-Tone Separation ! Micro-contrast can be explained as the transitional relationships of dissimilar grey tones, how abrupt is the transition from one grey tone to different one in the middle grey areas. Micro-contrast, or Mid-tone separation in my opinion is the single most difficult “look” to achieve in a B&W photograph. Essentially, what is happening when moving from the normal grade # 2 paper to a # 1, the contrast curve of the paper is “flattened” allowing the tonalities to be spread out and reveal more detail with less vibrancy and contrast, however, the micro-contrast is diminished. In the more contraster version when moving from grade # 2 to # 3 the lower values are pushed together as are the higher values. This does heighten the micro-contrast and separation in the mid-tones, but at the expense of the wonderful nuances a B&W photograph can reveal in both the shadow and highlight region ! Over the years, the master silver printers have learned how to manipulate these single contrast graded papers to produce the results they were after, albeit with limitations. There are a host of tricks that allow the creative and talented silver printer to bring their original vision of the scene to reality. For years I used those tricks and along the way dreamt up a couple of my own. I learned along time ago, if I reduced the highest density of the negative (which produces the lightest tonalities in the final print) then, I could intentionally shift to a higher contrast graded paper and realize the all important increased mid-tone separation. So, early on it became very clear to me that “mid-tone separation” relying on negative density could not rival that of increasing separation by means of the printing paper’s built in contrast profile. That understanding would lie dormant with me for 20 + years until Multi-Contrast papers became the accepted norm. The variations I’ve made to Adams’s Zone System will conclude this month’s Story Behind Every Photograph !
Take careful note of this month’s image, proper exposure and development yielded a negative with good shadow detail and controlled highlight detail. I’ve included the next photos in a progression showing a lower contrast grade version first, then the normal rendering I shared in this month’s image and lastly a more contrasty version printed on the higher grade of paper. These photos are how switching from grades 1 thru grade 3 would appear with no other manipulations. So, when looking at the different renderings of this month’s blog image one can begin to see how the creative photographer can create a sense of serenity, or drama to a given scene and guide the viewers response. Taking these three variations is essentially my approach to “outflanking” the final look I want in my finished print. I make a noticeably low contrast print, followed by a print too high in contrast and begin to examine the overall tonal relationships. I decide the relationships I want in the finished print and begin adding and subtracting contrast in the areas most important for the final print.
Look at the final higher contrast version below, the eye is naturally drawn to higher contrast areas. A standard trick by printers is to print the outer edges of most prints darker, this gently guides the viewer’s eye towards the center of interest, most times more centrally located. With the higher contrast papers, you can make any area darker with more exposure, but the same vibrant contrast remains, easily seen in the final rendering below in the outer areas of the sandy beach. With MC papers, simply adding more Green light to the outer areas will reduce the contrast and then simply adding more Blue exposure will darken the general outer portion of the photograph without the higher contrast.
I’m not suggesting I should even be in the same paragraph as Ansel Adams, however, those who knew Adams well would say he was constantly evolving as a photographer, always pushing limits. There is little doubt he would be exploiting Multi-Contrast papers much as I will share in this month’s Blog. Adams’s Zone System provides a solid means to expose, process and print to recreate what the photographer had in his mind at the time of exposure, using single graded papers !! By in large film and chemistry haven’t changed for several generations. By the mid ’90s technology and marketing demands were such that a single sheet of paper could be manufactured to produce all the contrast grades from 1 thru 5, with no short comings !! These papers became known as Variable or Multi-Contrast papers. Very basically, there are three separate emulsion layers incorporated into one sheet of paper. The layers respond to different colors of light, the Soft contrast emulsion is stimulated by Green light while a higher contrast emulsion is activated by Blue light. The 3rd layer is said to be equal parts of each emulsion, I have a theory why that 3rd emulsion is integrated but of no importance to the general nature of this Blog.
When I came to completely understand the potential these papers offered when coupled with a different negative design, exploiting the power of Multi-Contrast papers during the printing process became my new norm. I remembered from my early days, by reducing negative contrast by way of reducing development time, I could then use a higher contrast grade of printing paper, the gain in mid-tone contrast was obvious. I took that concept and pushed it to limits that even surprised me after all these years in the darkroom ! Have a look at this closing photograph, with a carefully designed negative, one with good shadow information and reduced highlight density the power of Multi-Contrast papers is maximized in the following example. These prints are directly out of the fixer tray from the same negative with no manipulation whatsoever, “straight” prints as they are commonly referred too. To quantify, the left side print received 9 seconds of Green light exposure and only 2 seconds of Blue exposure. The right side print received no Green Light exposure and 24 seconds of Blue light exposure. Employing a different negative design, fundamentally, the opposite design of an Adams’s negative in concert with MC papers the following results are at your finger tips. Given how radical Ansel Adams prints could be from reality, there is little doubt he would have altered his negative design to exploit the possibilities that MC papers afford the present day creative photographer.
I am fortunate to own an enlarger equipped with a light source that can quickly switch from maximum Green to maximum Blue light output. While it was a difficult decision to leave the Portriga Rapid silver paper behind and move to Ilford’s Warmtone Multi-Contrast papers I’ve not looked back. These MC papers offer tremendous flexibility in the rendering of the final print. Small intricate areas of a print can be manipulated to produce virtually any individual contrast. In a general sense when targeting small areas of a print for specific contrast is known as “Split Contrast Printing” and allows for a more precise way to convey my original emotions towards making the photograph. The Split Contrast printing technique came about back around 2005 by a British photographer, he recognized the considerable power of defining specific areas of contrast in the final print. A world renown printer from Toronto shared his variation of the technique with me back before 2010. As I began using the Split Grade technique exclusively for my own work, I came to realize there was still untapped potential with this approach to silver printing when I deviated from the original concept, particularly when coupled with my negative design.
I have always believed the extreme tonalities of B&W papers, near black and near white are nothing more than “bookends”, points of reference as it were. Personally speaking, the real “soul” of the image lies in the mid-tones, where they are separated in a pleasing, yet vibrant manner. The method in which I now design my negatives with these MC papers in mind I can affect the mid-tone separation that I choose almost anywhere in the print. Rarely, do I find a need for greater separation than is achieved organically with my workflow. I continue to accurately place important grey tones on specific exposure Zones, those decisions are driven by a singular goal of separating tonalities throughout the range of quality B&W papers. So, every step I take, beginning with the light I make negatives in, to negative exposure & design, film processing through Split Contrast printing, up to, and including the Split Toning technique I use is geared towards “separating” B&W tonalities !! Should you have further interest in a deep dive into my “Separation System” please see the liked article I wrote for the internet publication UnBlinkingEye.com https://unblinkingeye.com/Articles/PPSS/ppss.html
Happy, Safe and Joyous Holidays to all who share your generous time to read my monthly Blogs.