Pelé - A celebration of life

Creating the Pelé Photographic Prints

Silver gelatin prints are the most usual way of making black and white prints from negatives. This method uses papers coated with a layer of gelatin which contains light sensitive silver salts (halides). Because the silver image is suspended in a gelatin emulsion that rests on a pigment-coated paper, silver gelatin prints are sharply defined and highly detailed in comparison to other forms of printing in which the image is absorbed directly into the fibres of the paper.

Silver gelatin prints are a favourite amongst photographers who love shooting in black and white. While black and white photos carry a distinct charm of their own, when printed on silver gelatin print paper, the entire appearance of these photographs is instantly enhanced as they have a smooth, even image surface. The hues and tones of the black are darker, the whites crisper and more natural and there is more subtlety in the greys. To further enhance this, some photographers add additional chemicals to the silver gelatin prints. This not only alters the tone of the image, but also makes the print more permanent and long-lasting.

The C-Type colour prints have at least three emulsion layers of light-sensitive silver salts. Each layer is sensitised to a different primary colour - either red, blue or green - and so records different information about the colour make-up of the image. During printing, chemicals are added which form dyes of the appropriate colour in the emulsion layers. This is the most common type of colour photograph. The silver gelatin and C-Type methods are still viewed by established photographers as superior to any other form of printing, including digital. The fragile nature of the process and high quality of the fine art prints make silver gelatin and C-Type prints more expensive than their contemporary counterparts.

Pelé - a life story

Edson Arantes do Nascimento - better known as Pelé - was the most celebrated football player in history and perhaps the most popular, exciting athlete the world has ever known. A native of Brazil, Pelé enjoyed a professional career during which he scored 1,283 goals in 1,366 matches.

Pelé was born on October 23rd 1940 to Dondinho and Dona Celeste in Três Corações, Brazil. Pelé's father was a local professional football player who held the distinction of scoring five header goals in one game. Pelé junior’s youthful football talents were spotted by former Brazilian World Cup player, Waldemar de Brito, who took him to Santos, a club team on the coast of Brazil. Pelé started his professional career at the age of 16 for Santos Futebol Clube, scoring a goal in his first official game and shortly after, he joined the Brazilian national team.

In 1958, the 17-year-old was selected to play for the team at the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Pelé missed the first two games of the tournament with a knee injury, but made up for lost time by scoring the game-winning goal in the quarter-finals and a hat trick in the semi-finals. After Pelé's two goals against Sweden in the final, his teammates lifted the child prodigy who earned another nickname, ‘The King’, onto their shoulders and hoisted their country's first Jules Rimet trophy.

The 1958 World Cup revealed the greatness of Pelé to the world, but more was to come. He became the youngest-ever member of a World Cup-winning team and the youngest scorer in a World Cup Final. He later led Brazil to two more World Cup titles, in 1962 (Chile) and 1970 (Mexico). Pelé is still the only football player to have won three World Cup tournaments and he remains the top scorer in the history of the Brazilian National team with 77 goals.

In 1975, after 18 years with Santos FC where he won multiple international and national trophies, he joined the New York Cosmos of the North American Soccer League (NASL). During his three years in New York, Pelé led the Cosmos to the 1977 NASL title and brought great excitement to football and inspiration to young players in the United States. He capped his career with an emotional farewell game on October 1st, 1977, in a sold-out Giants Stadium, playing the first half with the Cosmos and the second half for Santos.

Since his retirement from football, Pelé continued to make positive contributions to the game and travelled the world to interact with his fans. Named one of the “Top 20 Most Important People of the 20th Century” (Time Magazine) and “Football Player of the Century” (FIFA), Pelé maintained his commitment to the sport and to society by fulfilling various roles as spokesperson, ambassador and philanthropist. In 2014, he was awarded the first ever FIFA Ballon d’Or Prix d’Honneur in recognition of his dazzling career and achievements.