The method of obtaining pigment from nature is quite old. The first paints were obtained from natural pigments. Since the olive tree, in which we used the pigment of its leaves in our research, is an ancient tree, its cultural history also dates back to ancient times. In history it is seen that in the cultures of the regions where olive tree grows importance was given to it. Today, old printing methods such as gum bichromate by becoming popular again started being used as a form of artistic expression. In the gum bichromate printing method, the discovery of which almost coincides with the discovery of the first synthetic dye, artificial dyes began to be used with the syntheticization of dyes. In our study, the usability of the dye obtained from the olive leaf as a natural material instead of oil paint or similar ready-made dyes in the gum bichromate printing method was investigated. The importance of our study comes from the fact that no research was found on the use of natural dye obtained from olive leaves as a dyestuff in old photography printing methods in the literature review made before the research. Within the scope of our research, the papers coloured with the pigment obtained from the olive leaf and exposed in the ultraviolet light were compared by taking densitometric measurements and by taking macro and micro photographs. In order to make comparison, densitometric measurements and macro and micro photographs of the results containing different amounts of olive leaf pigment were tried to be taken from the same region of the prints. As a result of our experiments, it was concluded that olive leaf pigment, which gives yellow brown tones, can be used as a natural dye in gum bichromate printing method.

Gum bichromate photography, Olive leaf, Olea europaea, Pigment, Photography.