Unknown Photographer, Group On A Ski Slope, Gelatin Silver Print, 1962

National Trust, Kingston Lacy Estate, Dorset (NT 1251733)

The gelatin silver process was the dominant technique for blackand-white photographic printing during the 20th century, until the advent of digital photography. As a result it can be harder to date gelatin silver prints.

The clothing suggests this was

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taken in the early 1960s. Photographic paper can shed

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light on timeframes. Deckled edges, as seen here, were particularly popular in the late 1950s and the early 1960s.

Matt surfaces might suggest the mid-20th century, whereas textured surfaces appeared in the 1970s and high-gloss papers peaked in the 1980s.