As I described in my previous post, there are a lot of moving parts to making a photographic postcard. I thought I had figured out my postcard plan for the 209 Weeks art project—resin coated 4 by 6 paper, RC-friendly mounting tissue, and cardstock that would easily take a rubber stamp. All I needed was to order some paper.

Non-Negotiables

I knew I wanted to get 4 by 6 paper rather than cutting down larger sheets of photographic paper. Cutting larger sheets is doable, but it can be a bit of a pain since you need to do it in safelight conditions. And I intend to make a lot of prints here, not just a few. So I wanted paper that was already the right size. Getting 4 by 6 paper was non-negotiable.

I also wanted to use “student grade” paper. Making prints is not cheap. Every single print needs at least one test strip for it and usually more than one. That could be a small strip of paper (approximately 2 inches wide), but it could be an entire sheet, depending on the photo, the focal point(s), the filter needs, etc. And the more time I spend in the darkroom, the pickier I become with my prints. So it would be wildly unlikely to get the final exposure in one test.

Student-grade paper tends to lack the contrast of higher-quality paper, but since I’d be sending so many postcards, and because each one would be different, I decided student-grade paper was probably the best choice.

But then I went to order paper: resin-coated, 4 by 6, student-grade paper.

This or That

It turns out that nobody makes 4 by 6 student-grade paper.

After searching high and low, I found only two options for that size: I could order a 500-sheet pack of Ilford MGRC from B&H (at a cost of 36.8¢ per sheet on sale), or I could order a 100-sheet pack of Ilford MGRC Portfolio paper (83.25¢ per sheet). The former isn’t even listed on Ilford’s website and was only available in a pack of 500; the latter was formerly sold as a postcard paper that doesn’t require an additional backing (so I wouldn’t need mounting tissue or cardstock—which I’d already purchased of course).

If I were sending the same postcard to everyone, I would have gotten the portfolio paper, because I could make several test strips for one print, then print 30 copies of the same image. But I’m sending different postcards each week, and making nonstop test strips would quickly add up. Alright, so a 500-sheet pack it was!
But why is 4 by 6 paper so hard to find?

The most common size of photographic film and prints has changed over time as the technology has. This is why you can find photos in all sorts of sizes, and the 4 by 6 (which might be more accurately called “6 by 4”) size of photos perfectly matches the 3:2 aspect ratio of 35 mm film. When 35 mm film became very common, photo labs were able to buy rolls of 6 inch wide photographic paper, but I’m not sure if that was ever a common sheet size for photographers working in darkrooms. (In my high school photography class, for example, we printed everything in an 8 by 10 size. )

Even if it had once been available, as darkroom work has become less common, the variety of papers in production has decreased. It seems that most people want to print larger photos, and the minimum size is usually 5 by 7 inches. Selling 4 by 6 paper likely only becomes profitable for Ilford when it’s sold in packs of 500. (I also wonder if smaller packs would expire before selling.)

Since I grew up when 4 by 6 prints became very common, the limited availability of 4 by 6 papers came as a surprise to me. I thought I would have my pick of papers! In retrospect, it makes sense—but it was certainly an aspect of the 209 Weeks project that I had not even thought to consider.

Bonus: Songs

Two songs are running through my head as I write this post: MIKA’s “Good Guys” and Paula Cole’s “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone.” The title of this post can be hummed to either tune.