Anton BRUEHL
Australia 1900 – United States of America 1982
United States from 1919

not titled [Portrait of a young girl] c.1924
platinum photograph
image 16.5 (h) x 21.9 (w) cm
Gift of American Friends of the National Gallery of Australia, Inc., New York, NY, USA, made possible with the generous support of Anton Bruehl Jr, 2006.
National Gallery of Australia, Canberra
NGA 2006.80

Printing in platinum was popular amongst Pictorial photographers but more Modernist photographers such as Edward Weston also used the process. Alfred Stieglitz referred to it as the ‘prince of media’. In fairly wide use since the 1880s, platinum continued to be employed until the 1930s when pre-coated papers were no longer available. Though still viable after that date, it was less widely employed – less popular also because of an association with the old-fashioned Pictorial style. Platinum is about fifty times more expensive than silver but countering the cost are advantages: it is extremely stable and has the widest tonal range of any chemical development, with delicate tones ranging from warm black, to reddish brown, to expanded mid-tone greys that are unobtainable in silver prints.