Platinum-Palladium Printing

When an Image Becomes Matter

Platinum printing is a distinctive philosophy of image-making—to sink light into paper, and to seal time in metal.

Since co-founding WhiteCrow78 Studio in 2019, I have devoted myself to the research and practice of platinum-palladium printing. For me, it is not only a historic photographic process, but also a living material language capable of carrying contemporary photographic thought.

Digital negatives and precision image-making allow this classical metal process to enter into dialogue with contemporary photographic technology. Beginning with observation and photography, the image takes form digitally before passing through hand coating, exposure, washing, and paper. Technology and handcraft coexist, each participating in the formation of the work.

When a platinum print emerges from its final wash, the image continues to change. As moisture gradually leaves the paper, the tonal range slowly settles, while the distinctive metallic presence of platinum reveals itself through drying and time. Only after several days does the image arrive at a quiet and stable state.

Through this process, I have come to understand that an image not only carries time; it also passes through time.

For me, platinum printing therefore becomes an extension of the work itself. Light, paper, metal, and time converge within a single surface, allowing the digital image to acquire a material presence and a moment of seeing to leave an enduring trace through time.