Very nice paper! I am finding myself increasingly liking Kentmere Fineprint as a cheaper (UK) faster alternative. neautral tones, tones well, depth etc. Fineprint is preferable to MGIV in all respects IMO unless one wishes for more contrast. Fineprint is a very undervalued paper!
Oriental is probably the finest neutral paper I have ever used, but fineprint is hot on its heels and the speed is very welcome
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Anyone in the UK using it ??
It used to be about the most expensive paper over here.
Made in Japan I think. I only ever used it very briefly for lith work and it was gorgeous ! Gave much gentler lith look which I really liked.
I think when it first came out it was called Seagull, then the company went under, resurfaced and produced it again but was named Oriental ?
Silverprint was the main stockist over here but it disappeared never to be seen again. I assumed it was out of production
Bill
Well this is the entire & utter history of Seagull in the UK as I recall it. Oriental was the manufacturer, Seagull the brand-name, they did make several other papers but none of the same stature. We started Silverprint off with Oriental Seagull, which hadn't been previously been brought into the UK, although it had been made since 1967. It went well, boosted by the great reputation it was acquiring in the States, and Mike Spry at Downtown Darkroom made the discovery that it worked well in lith - Oriental themselves were unaware of this.
When Oriental went into administration (in 1997?) there was a period where it was unavailable. When the new Oriental company was established we found all previous agency agreements had been torn up, and the company wanted large distributors that covered plenty of ground to handle it - this ended up in the UK as Calumet. There ensued a period where they made a total hash of it, but Silverprint was at least able to purchase it as a dealer. Mr Cad did so also, so distribution was working reasonably well when the new company called it a day (about 2000?). Mr Cad bought a lot of old stock from Calumet, and was the last source before it dried up.
The manufacturing plant was closed, but a bought-in paper is still being sold as 'Oriental Seagull'. This does not lith, is not the same specification as the original, and can be sourced in the original manufacturers packaging much more cheaply. Which is why, at Silverprint, we stopped dealing with it.
Even if the manufacturers had not had financial problems, though, Seagull might have had to cease. It's performance was certainly linked to a high cadmium usage in the emulsion, so H&S would probably have got it in the end. It keeps very well, though, Mike Spry is still using it for Anton Corbijns lith prints!
The manufacturing plant was closed, but a bought-in paper is still being sold as 'Oriental Seagull'. This does not lith, is not the same specification as the original, and can be sourced in the original manufacturers packaging much more cheaply. Which is why, at Silverprint, we stopped dealing with it.
In the USA, the Seagull (labeled) papers are cheaper than Ilford and Foma..so who is the manufacturer of the paper labeled as Oriental Segull??
In the USA, the Seagull (labeled) papers are cheaper than Ilford and Foma..so who is the manufacturer of the paper labeled as Oriental Segull??
It's quite a short list of candidates now. Perhaps of note that Ilford (Harman) who once professed vehemently that they were not 'own label' manufacturers are now in the business of doing special blends, eg the Bergger arrangement.
..Perhaps of note that Ilford (Harman) who once professed vehemently that they were not 'own label' manufacturers are now in the business of doing special blends, eg the Bergger arrangement.
I don't think Ilford ever said that. What Simon has posted is that Ilford will no longer provide its own standard products for sale under other brand names. It does, however, custom manufacture on contract to others' specifications for products which are then sold under those sellers' brand names.
So then there were three generations of Oriental Seagull? The paper Adams used in the 1980s, another paper made from around 1997-2000, and then this newest paper which is made by someone else?
I'm guessing that the last version I tested was probably of the 1997-2000 vintage.
Linear Mode
