N.P.G.
Description
“In 1902 Robert Krayn of Berlin described and patented his Naturfarben-Photographie System, a carbon printing system that was commercially introduced around 1905 by the German manufacturer of photographic paper Neue Photographische Gesellschaft, or N.P.G., of Berlin-Steglitz.8 To make a print, separation negatives were printed by contact onto pigmented films made of dichromated colloid mixed with pigment and coated on a thin celluloid or mica base. The film base had an intermediary rubber, wax, or collodion binder to facilitate the transfer of the colloid image. After exposure, the sheets of celluloid were developed in warm water to eliminate the unhardened colloid, dried, and assembled emulsion down onto paper. After drying, the celluloid could be easily stripped from the paper (Krayn 1903) (Fig. 3.3). To promote the product and printing system, the company opened a photo studio where portraits of eminent Berliners, including Kaiser Wilhelm II, were made.9 However, the images were not satisfactory in terms of both the purity of colors and the sharpness of the image: the pigment sheet stretched irregularly during development, and the outlines did not coincide (Boettcher 1921). In 1909 N.P.G. modified the process to a tanning-by-contact system similar to the carbro process, but production of the materials ceased after 1911 (Koshofer 1981b).”
(Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, on p. 84.)
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Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, p. 85.
Secondary Sources
Pénichon, Sylvie (2013): Twentieth Century Colour Photographs. The Complete Guide to Processes, Identification & Preservation. London, Los Angeles: Thames & Hudson, on p. 84. View Quote
