Gilles Peress Studio
76 Lafayette Avenue Brooklyn, New York 11217
September 12, 2016
Over the last 45 years I have used and tested many, many different gelatin silver papers that most of you do not know or remember. Who amongst you remembers:
Portriga, Portriga Rapid and Brovira (Agfa); llford Bromide; llford Multigrade version 1; Kodabromide, Polycontrast Rapid and Azo (Kodak); Seagull (Oriental); Brilliant (Zone VI): Varigam, Velour Black and Varilour (DuPont) ….
The latest paper we used in the 90’s was Agfa Multigrade Classic and then Agfa went under and we did not know what to do. So we started testing many, many black and white papers and although we found some that gave us ok black and white prints it was with the discovery of Adox paper that we had a revelation of how papers of old used to be: Horne at last! Rich blacks and detailed highlights were impressive, but it is the symphony of greys along with a superlative paper base that make my images come to
life. Combined with the Adox Selentoner, these are some of the finest prints that I have produced. This paper is so stable and Mirko puts in so much care in the emulsion (as he does in every Adox product) that after printing thousands of sheets I can say without hesitation that this paper is the best I have ever used, bar none.
Warmly,
Gilles Peress
