Film Photography Podcast – Episode 123 – April 15, 2015

Film Photography Podcast  –  Episode 123 – April 15, 2015

The Ilford factory Tour

Viviane Li visits Harman Technology Ltd. in Mobberley in the United Kingdom, home of the well-loved Ilford black and white films and darkroom paper. She takes us on a tour of the factory to learn about various stages of manufacturing, and some of the quality control checks they put in to make sure the products we buy are consistent every time.

Andrew Cross (pictured above), operations manager of the emulsion plant and coating plant, explains how a photographic emulsion is made. From the primary ingredients of silver nitrate and halides, seed silver halide crystals are grown in gelatine. When they reach the right size, the excess salt is filtered from the emulsion, the crystal are sensitized, then stored for later use. The processes are precisely orchestrated by a computerized control center.

The finishing department converts reels of coated paper and films into finished products on a shipping palette. Department manager Gaynor Hill shows us the assembly line for 35mm films; she also talks about how medium and large format films are produced.

Finally, Viviane interviews Steven Brierley, sales and marketing director, about different aspects of their business and how Harman Technology sees the future of analog photography.

Read Viviane Li’s Blog “Leadership in Black and White” HERE

You can contact The FPP at Podcast@FilmPhotographyProject.com

All images © 2015 Viviane Li.