Platinum & Palladium Prints · New Mexico
The most enduring
photographs ever made.
A print where the image itself is made of platinum and palladium — precious metals pressed into fine art paper. These prints don't fade. They don't yellow. They don't deteriorate. A platinum print made in the 1880s looks today like it was made yesterday.
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What Are Platinum & Palladium Prints?
Most photographs are made with silver — silver salts that react to light, captured on film or a sensor, then reproduced on paper. The image sits on the surface. It's beautiful, but it's temporary. Silver prints fade. They yellow. They crack. Give them a hundred years and they start to disappear.
Platinum and palladium prints are different. Instead of silver, the image is formed from platinum and palladium — two of the most stable metals on earth. These metals are inert. They don't oxidize. They don't react to light or air or time. The image isn't printed onto the paper — it's pressed into it, becoming part of the paper itself.
The result is a photograph with a tonal range and depth that silver prints simply can't match. The shadows have detail. The highlights glow. The midtones are smooth and continuous, with none of the harshness of a standard print. And because the image is made of metal, not chemical dye, it will last for centuries — potentially over a thousand years — without changing at all.
It's not a better version of a regular photograph. It's a different kind of object entirely.
Why These Prints Are Different
Three things set a platinum/palladium print apart from every other photograph you can buy.
Permanence
Platinum and palladium are inert metals — they don't oxidize, fade, or react to environmental conditions. Archaeologists have found platinum prints from the 1880s in pristine condition. Your great-grandchildren's great-grandchildren will see this portrait exactly as you see it today. No other photographic process can make that claim.
Tonal Range
Platinum/palladium prints have a tonal range that exceeds any silver-based process. The shadows hold detail that would be pure black on a conventional print. The highlights are luminous without being blown out. The midtones are smooth, continuous, and almost three-dimensional. The image seems to have depth — as if you could reach into it.
The Image Is In the Paper
Unlike a silver print, where the image sits on the surface, a platinum/palladium print is absorbed into the paper itself. The metals penetrate the fibers and become part of the sheet. There's no emulsion layer to peel, no coating to crack. The photograph and the paper are one and the same object.
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How a Platinum Print Is Made
The process dates to the 1870s. It's labor-intensive, expensive, and demands precision at every step — which is why almost no one does it anymore.
The Negative
The process begins with a large-format negative — the same size as the final print. Platinum/palladium is a contact printing process, meaning the negative is placed directly in contact with the sensitized paper and exposed to light. No enlargement. The negative must be perfect, because what it contains is exactly what the print will be.
Sensitizing the Paper
A solution of platinum and palladium salts, along with a light-sensitive iron compound (ferric oxalate), is hand-mixed and brushed onto a sheet of high-quality cotton rag paper. The coating is applied by hand, with a brush, in dim light — every sheet is individually prepared.
Exposure
The dried, sensitized paper is placed in contact with the negative and exposed to ultraviolet light. This is typically done outdoors in sunlight, or under a dedicated UV light source. The exposure can take minutes to an hour, depending on the density of the negative and the mixture of metals.
Development
The exposed paper is developed in a warm bath of potassium oxalate. The iron compounds dissolve away, and the platinum and palladium metals are reduced — they settle permanently into the paper fibers, forming the image. The transformation is immediate and visible. The image appears fully formed in the developer.
Clearing & Drying
The print goes through a series of clearing baths to remove any remaining iron compounds, then is washed and air-dried. What remains is a photograph made entirely of precious metal, embedded in archival paper. It will outlast everything else in the room.
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Commissioning a Print
This is not an order form. It's a collaboration.
The Conversation
It starts with a phone call or email. We talk about the image you want — a portrait, a landscape, a family photograph, a piece of your own work. You don't need to know anything about the technical process. Kevin will explain the options in plain language and help you decide whether platinum/palladium is the right choice for your image.
The Image
Platinum/palladium prints can be made from an existing photograph, a digital capture, or a new sitting in Kevin's studio. If you have an image in mind, send it. If you'd like Kevin to create one — a portrait sitting in his Rio Rancho studio or on location — that's part of the process too.
The Making
Once the image is selected and the negative prepared, Kevin makes the print by hand — mixing the chemistry, coating the paper, exposing in UV light, and developing. Each print is individually made. No two are exactly alike, and that's part of what makes them what they are.
Receiving It
Your finished print is ready in a few weeks. What you receive is not a file, not a link, not a reproduction — it's a handmade object. A sheet of fine art paper with your image formed in platinum and palladium, embedded in the fibers. Something to frame, to hold, to pass down.
Investment
Each platinum/palladium print is priced individually based on size, the complexity of the image, and whether a new sitting is involved. Because each print is made by hand — the chemistry mixed, the paper coated, the exposure timed — they are commissioned one at a time.
Platinum/palladium commissions are quoted after we talk about what you envision. There's no obligation in the conversation.
Start the ConversationStudio in New Mexico
Kevin's studio is in Rio Rancho, just outside Albuquerque — a 45-minute drive from Santa Fe, 15 minutes from the ABQ airport. If you're visiting New Mexico and would like to see platinum/palladium prints in person, or schedule a portrait sitting, he's available by appointment.
He also splits his time between New Mexico and Philadelphia and is available for on-location work anywhere in the United States.
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Questions About Platinum & Palladium Prints
What's the difference between platinum and palladium?
They're closely related precious metals used together in the same printing process. Platinum produces warmer tones and deeper shadows; palladium produces cooler, softer tones and is more sensitive to light. Most contemporary platinum/palladium prints use a mixture of both metals to achieve the desired tonal range and contrast. Kevin adjusts the ratio for each print based on the image.
How long will a platinum/palladium print last?
Platinum and palladium are inert metals — they don't oxidize or degrade. Platinum/palladium prints from the 1880s are still in pristine condition in museum collections. Conservators estimate a lifespan of over 1,000 years, provided the paper itself is stored in reasonable conditions. The image will not fade, yellow, or change.
Can you make a platinum print from a digital photograph?
Yes. Kevin can create a large-format digital negative from your digital image or scan, which is then used for contact printing in the platinum/palladium process. The final print is fully handmade — the metals are hand-mixed, the paper is hand-coated, and the exposure and development are done by hand. Only the negative is digital; everything else is the same 19th-century process.
How is this different from a regular fine art print?
A standard fine art print — even a high-quality giclée or silver gelatin print — uses dyes or silver salts that sit on the surface of the paper and will eventually fade or degrade. A platinum/palladium print is made of metal pressed into the paper itself. It has a wider tonal range, greater depth, and will outlast any other type of photographic print by centuries.
What kind of paper is used?
Platinum/palladium prints are made on high-quality, 100% cotton rag paper — typically heavyweight, acid-free, and archival. The paper must be able to absorb the metal solution into its fibers. Kevin selects the paper based on the image and the desired texture and tone.
Do I need to come for a sitting, or can I send an existing photograph?
Both options work. If you have an existing photograph — film negative, print, or digital file — Kevin can work from it. If you'd like a new portrait, you can schedule a sitting in his Rio Rancho studio or arrange an on-location session. The conversation will help determine which approach is right for what you have in mind.
How long does it take to receive my print?
Once the image is finalized and the negative is prepared, the printing process takes a few weeks. Kevin will give you an exact timeline when we discuss your commission, including whether a sitting is involved and how many prints you'd like made.
Can I get a digital copy too?
The platinum/palladium print is the primary deliverable — it's a physical object, not a file. Kevin can provide a high-resolution scan of the finished print on request, but the point of the process is the object itself. That's what makes it an heirloom.
How do I get started?
Send Kevin a message through the contact page. Tell him what image you have in mind — a portrait, a landscape, a family photograph — even if you're not sure yet whether platinum/palladium is the right process. He'll help you figure out the rest. There's no obligation, no sales pitch — just a conversation about whether a handmade platinum print is right for you.
A Photograph That Outlasts Everything
You could buy a print that will fade in your lifetime. Or you could own something made of platinum and palladium, pressed into fine art paper, that will look the same in five hundred years as it does today.
Begin the Conversation