Canson Student is one of the least expensive papers that can still be successfully used for historical and alternative photographic processes. It contains only a small percentage of cotton, but nevertheless has reasonably good resistance to repeated water baths.
When properly sized, it can withstand more than five layers of gum bichromate. After repeated soaking, however, even a sized sheet may eventually begin to delaminate.
Two Different Paper Surfaces
One of the advantages of Canson Student is that the two sides of the sheet have different textures, with one side being smooth.
This means that a single paper provides two different surfaces, each capable of producing a slightly different visual result.
The paper shrinks relatively evenly, although the surface may become somewhat uneven after drying.
Its relatively low weight also means that it dries quite quickly, which can be an important practical advantage when working with processes that require repeated coating and washing.
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| Canson Student paper |
Canson Student as a Paper for Learning
As its name suggests, Canson Student is primarily intended as an inexpensive paper for learning and practice. It was designed for drawing and painting, but it is also successfully used by photographers working with historical and alternative photographic processes.
It is not a paper I would choose for making collector-quality or archival exhibition prints, but it works very well as a material for learning a process, testing negatives and refining technique without using more expensive papers.
One of the main advantages of Canson Student is its price.
Sheets slightly larger than A4 are also available, making it possible to leave wider margins when contact printing negatives in formats such as 18 × 24 cm or 8 × 10 inches.
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| “Agata”, photograph by Małgorzata Bardoń. Albumen print on the smooth side of Canson Student. |
Radosław Brzozowski