Learning About Gold and Photography

Gold chloride has been used in photographic processing since 1840, making it one of the oldest chemical treatments still in use in darkrooms today.

A single daguerreotype plate from the 1840s contains a measurable layer of gold just a few atoms thick, deposited to protect the silver image beneath.

The warm brown tone seen in Victorian portrait photographs is not the natural colour of the print. It is the result of gold toning applied in the darkroom.

Gold is used in the circuit boards and sensor connections of modern digital cameras because it resists corrosion and conducts electricity more reliably than cheaper alternatives.

Museum conservators still use gold toning as the preferred method for preserving black and white photographic prints entering permanent collections.

The chrysotype, a printing process using gold salts instead of silver, was invented by Sir John Herschel in 1842. Herschel was also the scientist who coined the word "photography."

A gold toned photographic print can remain stable for over 500 years under proper storage conditions.

Kodak's professional gold chloride toning solution was available continuously from the early 1900s until the company filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

Gold leaf was the standard material for decorating photographic portrait frames throughout the Victorian era, meaning gold surrounded the image as well as being embedded within it.

The connectors on high-end camera lenses are gold plated to ensure a reliable electrical connection between the lens and the camera body.

NASA used gold coated film in early space photography because conventional emulsions degraded under cosmic radiation.