yellow fog along a roll

<p>Hello,<br>

I work on a translation of an excerpt from Lawrence Durrell's novel Black Book and there is a simile which I do not fully understand. It has something to do with film development, I suppose. (I'm a second-language speaker).<br>

<em>The morning came like a yellow fog along a roll of developing film.</em><br>

The novel is from 30s. Do you have any idea what the simile means? Did yellow fog come naturally after developing film in those days or is it a flaw or something unique? ... I'd be grateful for any information.</p>

<p>It might be what watching orthochromatic film develop by a red safelight looked like. I have some old (fogged, but not developed) glass plates that are a bright yellow-green color. </p>

<p>1935 would have been barely into the Kodachrome years, so it most likely meant black and white film.</p>

<p>But at the time, the common black and white films were orthochromatic (not red sensitive) and so could be developed under red light. Earlier films were only blue sensitive, and might have been developed under yellow light, but I suspect that the filters weren't so good, and red might have been used. </p>

<p>So, no, I don't have any idea.</p>

<p>In the 1930’s, the black & white films in common use were insensitive to red light. Thus films could be safely handled in darkrooms illuminated by a red filtered light bulb. Film development, in that era, was by “inspection”. The film was immersed in a developer solution under red light. Within seconds a faint image appeared and grew darker by the minute. Development was ended when the darkroom worker deemed the images had reached the desired strength. The developer solution is naturally “straw” colored. <br>

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Development was ended by immersing the film in a mild acid bath akin to vinegar. The natural color of the stop bath is a pale yellow. Next the film was immersed in a “fix” bath. This fluid chemically rendered the images permanent. This solution is pale yellow.<br>

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The film’s appearance under red only illumination is, to say the least, quite “ruddy”. Additionally the front side of the film is an opaque gray and the backside is opaque green or maroon. The opacity of the film is gradually removed by the fixer solution. <br>

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I have never acknowledged that film, as it develops, appears yellow. A thought; many films of that era were only sensitive to blue light. These could be developed via yellow safelight. The darkroom illuminated by a yellow lamp is brighter; thus the darkroom is more comfortable. Additionally, the black & white films are printed using photo paper that is routinely handled under yellow safelight. It is possible that in some shops, blue only sensitive film was handled under the same yellow safelight designated for photo paper. </p>

<p>Is photography part of the story of the book? Is there a reason for the writer to have made a comparison to film being developed? <br /><br /></p>

<p>I'd interpret it that the fog cleared during the morning</p>