Ilford Galerie Gold Fibre Silk is a new paper here at Macquarie Editions. It’s another example of a baryta (barium sulphate) paper modeled on traditional fibre photographic paper (see also Harman FB Gloss Al). What sets Gold Fibre Silk apart is its almost neutral base colour (measured with CIE L*a*b* values of 97.9, -0.1, -0.4).

Gold Fibre Silk is a 310gsm paper with a thickness of 0.3mm and retains its flatness well. It has a dull lustre surface. (The surface is less intrusive than the somewhat similar Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta and it exhibits better image clarity than Hahnemühle’s offering.) With Ultrachome HDR inks, the image seems to sit on the paper … which I find quite attractive. The gamut is extremely large. I’ve been able to achieve blacks with an L* value of 4.5 for colour (this drops to 3 for B&W). It does however exhibit some gloss differential plus bronzing in blue transitions though the effect of these behind glass is minimal. If an issue, a light spray with a fixative should correct this. This paper is likely an ideal candidate for face mounting to acrylic, something I will be exploring in the future.

For those who find the contrast range and reduced dark gamut of matte (rag) papers less suited to their particular images, Gold Fibre Silk is a very attractive option. It’s a far nicer looking paper than resin-coated alternatives.