Leaving an Imprint
The Department of Physical Sciences at LAU’s School of Arts and Sciences proudly celebrated a meaningful collaboration that demonstrated how chemistry extends beyond the laboratory to directly serve the creative community and help preserve our artistic heritage.
In partnership with Beirut Printmaking Studio and renowned photographer Tarek Mourad, Dr. Ghada Al-Kadamany, lecturer in chemistry, led an initiative that bridged scientific expertise with artistic innovation.
With the dedicated involvement of two senior chemistry students, Mohammad Mazloum and Moustafa Baroudi, the team successfully synthesized palladium chloride, a chemical compound essential to the historic and highly specialized palladium printing process. When combined with ferric oxalate prepared in-house at the studio, this achievement enabled the production of palladium prints from start to finish using locally synthesized materials.
Palladium photography is a refined alternative to traditional silver-based analog processes. Instead of silver, images are formed through the reduction of palladium salts, producing prints with exceptional tonal range and remarkable durability. While conventional black-and-white photographs may last around 120 years, palladium prints can endure for centuries—potentially outlasting the paper on which they are printed, with lifespans reaching up to 1,000 years under proper conservation.
According to Mourad, this marks, to the best of his knowledge, the first time such a process has been fully realized specifically for photographic purposes in the Middle East.
Lebanon is home to an active community of analog photographers who are eager to explore palladium printing but face significant barriers due to the high cost and complexity of importing necessary chemicals, said Dr. Al-Kadamany. Therefore, “local production of these compounds has the potential to transform access, empowering artists to adopt this technique more readily.”
Moreover, synthesizing palladium chloride for photographic use positions Lebanon among an exclusive group of countries—such as Germany, France and the United States—currently producing these materials.
The initiative also provided valuable hands-on experience for students. In addition to learning how to synthesize metal salts and handle corrosive acids, they explored the art of photography. Creating prints using materials they had produced allowed them to see how chemistry can play a central role in artistic expression.
This milestone reflects more than technical success. It highlights the ability of our chemistry program to empower local industries, support cultural production and advance regional self-sufficiency in specialized materials.