The Paper Made from Centuries of Tradition

The human need to capture, express and document the world around us has been a core part of our living experience since our ancient forefathers used cave walls to capture it. When our souls are touched, we are moved to immortalize the experience. Some of us were endowed with the skills that produce stick figures. Others were given the tools, vision and talent to go much further. Millenia later, those tools and skills evolved into the renaissance master painters applying pigments to canvas and ceiling tiles. In 1827, French artist Joseph Niépce invented the Camera Obscura and made the oldest know surviving photograph to date. The technology back then was called a Heliograph, and it was titled “View from a Window”.

Eventually the artform would come to be known as photography and would continue to evolve many times, in many ways, and over hundreds. Those forefathers to whom we own our entire craft, could not even have imagined where their invention would be today. Many practicing photographers today still struggle with the evolution and adaptation that the craft has undergone in just the few short decades of our own lifetimes. The digital impact on our years-long educations in traditional photography and dark room printing technologies has been mind-numbingly difficult just to keep up with and adapt to. Photographic papers numbering in the thousands with dizzying choices in brand characteristics, paper surfaces, tones and contrast levels. The mastery required to understand the mathmatics of exposure, the temperature control of chemistry, the mix ratios and different compostions of all the myriad chemistry choices. Today, most of these variables and an order of magnitude more are all accessed digitally. Yet for all of our advancement and evolution, we still print!

The History of Hahnemühle
Hahnemühle, the manufacturer of the foundation of all my work today actually began in 1584 in Germany. This paper has been perfected for nearly half a millenium by the most accomplished craftsman in the world. In 1769 the papermill had been owned for 185 years by the descendants of Merten Spieß. It was sold to the Andrae family, which owned it until 1884 when the mill was bought by L. Heinemann, who sold it only two years later in 1886 to Carl Hahne. Carl Hahne renamed the mill "Büttenpapierfabrik Hahnemühle". In 1902 Hahnemühle was converted into a limited company (GmbH) and merged with Schleicher & Schuell, a company from Düren. In 1927 Schleicher & Schuell became the sole owner of Hahnemühle. At July 1st 2002 Hahnemühle was renamed as Hahnemühle FineArt GmbH. In 2004 Hahnmühle was demerged from Schleicher & Schuell and has operated independently since then.

The Craft of Hahnemühle
Up to the end of the 19th century Hahnemühle existed as a small manufacturer with less than 15 employees. Their main products were some of the finest handmade writing and foolscap papers. Led by Carl Hahne, the production of artist paper and high purity filter paper enabled the mill grew to more than 120 employees. In the Industrialization era the production of artist papers had become so much more prevalent. The process was a mould-made paper machine installed in the early 1920's followed by a Fourdrinier machine. Although production continued to become more mechanized, until the 1960's many of the papers remained artisan-crafted and were entirely hand-made. During the same era Hahnemühle developed the first ever Vegan, acid free and archival machine made paper without animal glues or other animal substrates in its papers. In the late 1990s the first Fine Art Inkjet papers were developed based on the vast archive of their traditional artist papers. The highly awarded Digital FineArt Collection is today the world’s market leading paper product line. Galleries, museums and collectors trust in papers "Made in Germany" and their portfolio of products now comprises traditional and digital FineArt papers for painting, printing and life science applications as well as specialty paper. All paper grades are manufactured according to centuries old recipes from high-quality cotton fibres, cellulose or fast-growing plant fibres and pure spring water. Hahnemühle is the inventor of Digital FineArt papers for inkjet printing and art reproduction.

The Only Hahnemühle Paper for Me
The reason for this artist using Hahnemühle Photo Rag Metallic paper is quite simple. I have used many different papers to print my photographs. Having tested dozens of manufacturers and paper types and styles, the singularly superior paper maker was Hahnemühle, and from among their library of product, only one captured my heart. Hahnemühle Photo Rag Metallic paper. Each of these papers is exquisite in terms of its heft, finish and quality. I have found none to rival them. But Photo Rag Metallic is special.

Hahnemühle Photo Rag® Metallic is a silvery-shimmering FineArt inkjet paper with a specially formulated inkjet coating for FineArt use. The natural white cotton paper contains no optical brighteners and has the characteristic Photo Rag® surface structure and sumptuous feel. Photo Rag® Metallic features a special silvery-shimmering surface finish. The high-gloss premium coating with a unique metallic effect guarantees impressive printing results with bold colours, deep black and the perfect reproduction of colour and detail. The sophisticated silver metallic effect underscores the image and enables motifs with subjects such as metallic elements, reflections, ice and glass, architecture and landscape shots, as well as black and white photographs with high-contrast tones shine with a brilliance that must be seen to be truly appreciated. Photo Rag® Metallic is acid and lignin-free and meets the most exacting requirements in for age and fade resistance.