Y is for Yellowing
So what does yellowing have to do with photography? Well, I'm glad you asked.
I know from personal experience that the photographic prints I made in my high school’s dark room have yellowed. The yellowing, at least with respect to my high school prints, is the result of me being a little impatient during the printing process.
Photographic prints may yellow over time because the photographer rushed during printing process and didn't rinse off fixer properly allowing the print to dry.
There are four steps to print a photograph:
1) Developer
After the photographic paper has had the negative exposed on it, it is placed in the developer bath. The developer bath is a heavy metal solution that reacts with the silver in the negative, turning it into metallic silver. This makes the negative image appear as light and dark shades of gray on the print.
A photographer developing photos in the the darkroom. Credit: Jean-Pol GRANDMONT CC By 3.0
X-rays are dangerous, though, which is why we don’t have X-ray units in our homes. They are of even higher energy than UV light (which we already know can cause burns), and without care can result in cancers.
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