Printing Technique
Willie Jan Bons individually prints all of his own photographs by hand in a traditional darkroom using classic materials and techniques. No digital technology is used. He prefers baryta and aquarel based papers which give a more deeper feeling to the image than the 'plastic' look of modern material. These high quality materials have a high level of permanence.

Printing Processes
The techniques used:

Silver Gelatin Print
Print based on a baryta paper with a silver coated emulsion. The paper is lighted under a enlarger and developed using chemicals.

Cyanotype Print (Alternative Printing Processes)
Print based on a iron solution which is painted onto a aquarel based paper with a brush. When dried a negative is put onto the painted area and flattened by a glass plate. This sandwich is exposed to Ultra Violet (UV) light such as daylight and when at the right snatchpoint it is flushed in water to remove the restpart of the solution. The result is a insoluble blue dye known as prussian blue.

Bromoil Print (Alternative Printing Processes)
Print based on a normally exposed / developed print on a silver bromide paper which is then chemically bleached and hardened. The gelatin which originally had the darkest tones, is hardened the most, the highlights remain absorbent to water. This print can then be inked with a brush and ink.

Liquid Light Emulsion Print (Alternative Printing Processes)
Print based on a material such as wood, paper, stone or glass which is coated with a silver based emulsion and after that normally exposed / developed. The material is often precoated to prevent the emulsion from sucking into the material.

Lith Print (Alternative Printing Processes)
Print based on a exposed special silver gelatin paper and developed in a special developer. This developer is very dilute and development takes a long time. Lith development is virtually unrepeatable and time consuming, but, the rewards are worth it.