The Fine Print Photographer’s Workshop is a unique service for discriminating photographers and artists who, quite simply, want the ultimate quality in monochrome from their photographs. All formats of your negatives from ½ frame 35mm upwards are covered for negative processing; and from ½ frame 35mm to 5x4 for projection printing, and larger formats by contact. Its director, Barry Thornton, author of the best selling ‘Elements – the Making of Fine Monochrome Prints’, Ilford Masterclass instructor, with 45 years experience, is obsessive about fine monochrome photographs. Rich velvety shadow tones, brilliantly details and graduated highlights, a smooth transition of uncompressed middle tones with corner to corner sharpness are simply the starting point. Only exhibition quality is good enough. All work is carried out personally by Barry Thornton. No assistants are used.

This isn’t the usual processing lab., or "professional photographer" with "hand printing" service or a colour lab. with a black and white sideline – places where resin coated rules. There are no "process and print" packages here. Barry Thornton loves monochrome as an artist’s medium and is dedicated to the fine photograph that seems to glow with inner luminosity. It can be subtle and expressive, or maybe stark and graphic. High key? Low key? Hard? Soft? Warm? Cold? You choose – perhaps you would like advice? For the important difference in this service is the personal relationship between Barry Thornton and the photographer. Barry’s lifetime of monochrome experience is all part of the service. For the experienced professional and amateur, this is an understanding partnership to realise the visualised end result to perfection. For the less experienced photographer, amateur or professional, it means personal confidential technical and aesthetic coaching (usually by exchange of audio cassette with your order and delivery, but see other information later on personal contact) to realise your own potential. You can develop your own satisfying and unique style that sets you apart. So many creative and visually aware photographers and artists are held back by the lack of craft technique that can otherwise take decades to acquire.

Barry Thornton’s fine prints are all produced for you on the very finest silver rich fibre based variable contrast and, even more, on rarer heavy weight graded exhibition quality printing papers. Occasionally, for special purposes, a resin coated print will be provided using unusual papers as well as the standard types used by the ordinary hand printing services. Special techniques such as pre and post flashing, pre and post bleaching, unsharp masking, partial pencil masking, selective diffusion etc. are all routine. All prints are lovingly hand tray processed through the finest and most expensive developers – a few proprietary, but many formulated by Barry himself and simply unobtainable elsewhere . Stop, fix and clear in ultra fresh solutions are to the most rigorous archival standards. Every print is toned for enhanced tonal range, appearance, and archival properties in gold, selenium, or various sulphide solutions, or combinations of these, and/or Sistan. Wash is always extended. Drying by air on inert plastic netted frames is very slow to limit dimensional instability. All prints are hot pressed between museum boards for extra body and flatness, and to bring out the ultimate deep blacks and highlight sparkle. They can be dry mounted on to museum or conservation quality boards if required. Finished prints are signed by Barry Thornton and delivered in individual archival preservation clear polyester pockets, which themselves enhance surface brilliance. Packing is between oversized corrugated plastic panels within a padded paper pocket.

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