This part of my website is for those discerning photographers who want to make some of the best developers for small and medium format films. These developers were formulated by the late Geoffrey Crawley.


Introduction


Geoffrey Crawley (1926–2010) was a rare amalgam of artist and scientist. His remarkable FX series of developers was the manifestation of his aspirations to set a new standard in photographic prints. Those aspirations formed his view that there was a precise intersection between art and the technical aspects of photography. Where others were making developers to efficiently reduce silver halides and minimise grain Crawley was investigating how we see photographs and how he could help us lift the look of our prints to a higher level. I’ve always admired him greatly and used his formulations for most of my photographic life and so I wanted to share some of that experience and excitement with you. I did not personally know Crawley, and have never met him, but through using his formulas for so many years I feel I have worked with him in some way. So, as you read this work please know I offer this knowledge that I have gleaned over many years from Crawley’s, and others, writings.


Geoffrey Crawley was a towering figure in photography, known particularly for his rigorous scientific approach to photographic chemical formulation, and his balance between the artistic and technical aspects of photography.


For sixty years, Crawley’s work transformed the craft for amateur and professional alike with his pioneering methods and new chemical processes in developing film. This lead him to provide high performance developers both for home use and to be made commercially by Paterson; such as his the famous Acu range.


Crawley became editor the British Journal of Photography from 1966 to 1987 and also contributed to Amateur Photographer magazine. Through this work he brought new and class leading formulations to the masses. But, despite all this fame, he was a humble man. As an example of Crawley’s humility, someone who worked with him said that as famous as he was he didn’t want to use his full name in his published Amateur Photographer articles.[1]


Crawley’s innovations were not merely the technical exercises of a scientist but direct responses to photographers’ practical needs. Crawley’s developers enabled amateurs to achieve professional-grade results, previously reserved for experts.


His formulations remain benchmarks in analog photography, cited by practitioners many decades after their introduction and still as relevant today as they were when Crawley first created them. He did, as just one man, create professional, class leading developers that the giants in photography such as Ilford, Kodak, and Agfa spent many millions trying to do.


Here I will be describing many of the Crawley developers that I have used over the years, that can be easily made today, providing advice and practical tips on their formulation and application. Researching this work, in the latter half of last year, brought back many fond memories of how excited it was to make the formulations again and use them for my craft. It reminded me how ahead of the game they were and I believe still are, with some formulations still being used regularly on many peoples films. I hope to pass that excitement on to you so that these wonderful developer formulations can give you the pleasure they have given me.


[1]: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2010/nov/15/geoffrey-crawley-obituary