Has anyone used Bergger paper and if so, what are your opinions? I am particularly interested in feedback on Bergger's "silver-rich" paper called, Silver Supreme.

-- Tom Rand (TR.PUR@SCHOSP.ORG), April 13, 2000

Answers

Hello everyone,

Silver Supreme is available in both 16x20 and 8x10 sizes, with a special run of 20x24 that will be available in about one month.

I'd be happy to answer any questions about the Bergger product line.

John Horowy Bergger Products, inc.

-- John Horowy (sales@bergger.com), April 14, 2000.

I have a question for John. Where is this paper made and what are the company's environmental standards? I have been reading alot on the paper and film companies from eastern europe and their seemingly total disregard for the local environment. My hopes are that this good quality paper is not one of the products from a less than environmentally astute company caring for maximum profits at the expense of the environment. We photographers have to become environmentally aware as the products we use have a great impact on the environment if not used and disposed of correctly. The photographic community has one of the highest profiles of all of the environmentally aware entities and as such we should strive to make others aware of this standard. And John, I bought some of your product and it is all the advertizing said it was. James aka The Lumberjack

-- james (james_mickelson@hotmail.com), April 15, 2000.

Hey Lumberjack,

Thanks for your concerns and thanks for your opinion on the Bergger papers.

Bergger SA is located in France. The papers are produced there and occasionally use other production plants throughout Europe, much like Agfa and others.

Global concerns are global. I know that the use of heavy metals, such as cadmium has been removed from even the far eastern European companies. Europe is a pretty small place, and I don't know if you have done much business over there, but when it comes to red tape, it would be easier to produce paper here, and dump the discards in the river.

I live in the midwest, we just got zip codes and we watch lots of corn seed commercials. So we do speak the same language and have the same concerns.

Let's continue to produce pretty things.

John Horowy Bergger Products, inc.

-- John Horowy (sales@bergger.com), April 15, 2000.

While I don't care what they do in Europe, I do think it would be nice to have a straight answer. Pat

-- pat j. krentz (krentz@cci-29palms.com), April 17, 2000.

I recently printed on Bergger's Silver Supreme and have to forward my opinion to all my fellow photographer/environmentalists out there: It's stunningly beautiful and in a class by itself. Bergger's Silver Supreme is made on watercolor paper by Arches and is available in only one grade. Because of the rich silver content, the paper can easily reproduce grades 1-4 by manipulating developer or exposure time. The look of an image on Silver Supreme is almost three dimensional, due to the emulsion being in the paper and not coated on the surface. Silver Supreme has the richness and beauty of a fine platinum print, and the paper's tactile quality has the feel of something more than mere photographic paper; the paper itself is a work of art.

Thank you, John Horowy and Bergger for providing us with a paper that other companies can only hope to one day produce in an environmentally correct way!

-- Tom Rand (TR.PUR@SCHOSP.ORG), April 17, 2000.

Thanks Tom, for the original post. I was not aware of the paper, and it sure looks interesting!

-- Christian Harkness (chris.harkness@eudoramail.com), April 18, 2000.