Photographic developing composition and use thereof in the development of a photographic element

A black and white silver halide photographic element comprising a support having thereon at least one light-sensitive silver halide emulsion layer said element comprising, in an amount sufficient to inhibit sludge deposition during development, a compound having the formula

• X—R1—CONH-A-S—S—B—NHCO—R2—Y (I)
• wherein
• wherein A and B each represent paraphenylene, R1 and R2 each represent —(CH2)3— and, X and Y each represent —COOM wherein M is either a hydrogen atom or a cationic species if the carboxyl group is in its ionised form;
• and/or a compound having the formula
• X—R1—CONH-A-S-M (II)
• wherein A, R1, X and M are as defined above;
• and which element further comprises mercaptosuccinic acid.

A method of forming a photographic image in a black and white silver halide photographic element which comprises imagewise exposing the photographic element and developing the exposed element with a developer solution which is or is produced from a composition comprising at least one developing agent and, in an amount sufficient to inhibit sludge deposition, one or more compounds selected from compounds having the formula

• X—R1—CONH-A-S—S—B—NHCO—R2—Y (I)
• wherein
• A and B are each independently a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic, alicyclic, aromatic or heterocyclic group;
• R1 and R2 are each independently a substituted or unsubstituted aliphatic, alicyclic, aromatic or heterocyclic group;
• X and Y are each independently a solubilising group;
• and compounds having the formula
• X—R1—CONH-A-S-M (II)
• wherein A, R1 and X are as defined above, and
• M is either a hydrogen atom or a cationic species if the sulfur atom is in its ionised form, wherein one or more of the compounds (I) and (II) defined above are added to the developer solution from the photographic element during development.