Van Dyke Brown – Chemicals and Materials for Vandyke Printing

Van Dyke Brown (Vandyke) is a historical iron-silver photographic process known for its distinctive warm, deep brown prints, from which the process takes its name.

In this category, you will find chemicals and materials for Van Dyke Brown printing, including ready-to-use sensitising solutions, photographic chemicals and materials used for preparing and processing prints.

The process is based on the light sensitivity of iron and silver compounds. The sensitising solution is applied to paper and, once dry, contact printed under a negative using UV light or sunlight. The image becomes visible during exposure, after which the print is washed and fixed.

Van Dyke Brown printing is valued for the relatively simple preparation of the light-sensitive material, its characteristic brown tones and the possibility of applying the sensitising solution by hand to a chosen surface. The process is suitable both as an introduction to historical iron-silver photographic techniques and as a distinctive process in its own right, used in contemporary alternative and fine-art photography.