If a starting point should be found in the history of Salto Ulbeek, it would be the purchase of a second-hand Heidelberg two-color press by Georges Charlier in 1992. As a professional photographer working both for himself and the advertising industry, Georges was not only interested in perfecting the techniques of photographic capture, but also in printing his and other photographer’s work to the highest possible standards.

In 1994, Georges started a company, Salto, and over the following years, different technical developments were made to print photography and art books in tri-tone, quad-tone and multi-color in 600 line screen. In the meantime, Georges and his expanding team further developed the production of exhibition prints in Dye Transfer, Carbro, and Platinum-Palladium, which became Salto’s media of choice.

In 2004, Salto moved into an old brewery in Ulbeek, Belgium, and became Salto Ulbeek. Then, in 2014, word of mouth about the unique techniques developed by the company reached Japan and Salto joined forces with Amana to form a company, AmanaSalto, which opened a Platinum Palladium studio in Tokyo. Whilst Salto Ulbeek continued to print for some of the biggest names in contemporary photography internationally, AmanaSalto focused more specifically, but not solely, on Japanese photography.

In parallel to these developments, Salto Ulbeek has also progressively specialized in the printing and preservation of photographic archives, especially those relating to early Antarctic and Everest expeditions at the beginning of the 20th century. This work has resulted in the creation of a new dedicated company, Salto Poles, and has motivated Georges and his team to further collaborate with private and institutional archives to help them in preserving their collections, and in widening their public appreciation.