Youn Jung Choi (Yuna)
LIS 471 Management of
Photographical Archives
Albumen Print
-Introduction
Albumen print
was widely adopted by amateur and professional
photographers in the second half of the nineteenth century. Showing
exceptionally fine detail and the longest tonal range of nineteenth
century processes, albumen dominated the field until the rise of emulsion-type
gelatin and collodion papers from the late 1880s. Albumen print was employed
both for art and commercial photographic printing and was often used for
making cartes-de-visite, cabinet portrait photographs, and stereoscopic prints.[1]
-Inventor:
Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard
1869 portrait of Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard[2]
The albumen print was
the discovery of a French photographer, Louis Désiré Blanquart-Evrard.
Louis-Dèsirè Blanquart-Evrard was born in Lille, France on August 2,
1802. After working first for a tobacco company, Blanquart-Evrard began
studying chemistry under the tutelage of Frederic Kuhlmann and became a laboratory
assistant. During this apprenticeship, he combined his interest in art with
science and was particularly interested in developing techniques to paint on
porcelain and ivory.[3]
After marrying
the daughter of a prominent Lyon textile merchant, Blanquart-Evrard joined her
family's business. Upon learning of the 1839 invention of the daguerreotype, he
began focusing on photographic chemical research. William Henry Fox Talbot's
invention of a negative-positive calotype process particularly intrigued him
and in 1847,
Blanquart-Evrard published the procedure for the calotype negative/positive
paper process.[4]
Although Blanquart-Evrard specialized in
printing and issuing portfolios of other photographers’ processes, his most
significant contribution was the introduction the albumen paper print process. The albumen paper print process was first
published by Blanquart-Evrard in the Bulletin of the French Academy of Sciences
on May 27, 1850 and became the primary printing medium until gelatin papers
superseded it in the late 1800s.[5]
-History
Tree, Louis Désiré
Blanquart-Evrard[6]
French, 1853 Salt print 8 3/8 x 6 13/16 in. 84.XO.1279.12 -
See more at:
http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=105483&handle=li#sthash.enUkisa2.dpuf
*Albumen
print in 1850s;
Albumen
paper had become the dominant photographic printing material by 1855. A
simultaneous revolution in the techniques used to produce photographic
negatives enabled the rapid acceptance of albumen paper. The wet collodion
negative process, with its long density range and very fine detail, was a great
advance over earlier paper negative methods and also gained wide acceptance in
the early 1850's. Wet collodion negatives demanded a printing paper capable of
more detail and contrast than what the older plain salted papers could provide,
and albumen print became the alternative. The albumen print possessed increased
detail and contrast because the image resided in the compact layer of albumen
on the print surface, instead of deep within the fibers of the paper. [7]
*Tinted albumen paper;
The discovery of new synthetic dyes during
the 1860s made possible the tinting of albumen paper. Pink, blue, and violet
dyes were added to the albumen before it was coated. The slight highlight
coloration that dyes provided lent a pleasing effect and tended to mask the
yellowing of the albumen itself. Tinted paper gained popularity during the 1870s,
and the bulk of the albumen paper sold after 1880 was tinted. Pink shades were
the most popular.[8]
This commercial studio portrait is commonly
known as a carte-de-visite (CDV) and is of a later variety presenting the
sitter's head and shoulders rather than the full-figure. It consists of an
albumen print mounted to a thick, 2 ½ x 4-inch paper card. The sitter has been
framed in an oval and the card has rounded corners. A blue tint added to the
albumen layer is present; this technique introduced in the 1860s was thought to
enhance the image and was popular in pink, yellow and blue tints.
Pink Tinted Albumen
Print [10]
This commercial studio portrait is commonly
known as a carte-de-visite (CDV) and is of a later variety presenting the
sitter's head and shoulders rather than the full-figure. It consists of an
albumen print mounted to a thick paper card originally 2 ½ x 4-inches which has
been irregularly trimmed or cut at the edges. A pink tint added to the albumen
layer is visible; this technique introduced in the 1860s was thought to enhance
the image and was popular in pink, yellow and blue tints. The tinting dyes used
were unstable and generally faded quickly. However, the dye is still clearly
visible in this sample, which could be attributed to the fact that it had been
stored in a carte-de-visite album.
*Burnishing;
Along with the
trend toward tinted albumen paper came the popularity of more glossy print
surfaces, especially in commercial portraiture. The smooth surface was attained
by applying a second coating of albumen to the paper and by mechanically
smoothing the finished print in a roller device known as a “burnisher.”
Burnishing gained acceptance during the late 1860s and became almost
universal by the mid-1870s. Roller presses of various designs were used not
only with small portrait formats, but also on album pages prior to binding, and
on large prints of all types. When skillfully done, mechanical surface
smoothing could produce an extremely high gloss on an albumen print.[11]
*Enameling;
In the
mid-1870s, a practice known as “enameling,” in which prints were
coated with collodion, was in fashion briefly. However, because of the
cumbersome process, it was soon abandoned. Burnishing remained a routine aspect of
print finishing until well after albumen paper had been replaced by gelatin and
collodion printing-out papers.[12]
*Ready-Sensitized Paper;
Factory-made
albumen paper was not light-sensitized and once it was sensitized, it had to be
used almost immediately. There were several ways to solve the problem of keeping
quality of sensitized paper. In the early 1870s, the use of citric acid enabled
the preparation of sensitized albumen paper with a shelf life of several
months. This “ready-sensitized” paper appealed mostly to amateur photographers,
whose ranks swelled appreciably during the 1880s. Professional photographers
generally continued to sensitize their own paper because it was more economical
and gave better results.[13]
-Process:
Albumen was prepared by
beating salted egg white to a froth, then allowing it to settle back into
liquid form. It was applied to the paper by a floating process in which
individual sheets were carefully rested on the surface of the solution, then
gently lifted off and hung vertically to dry.
In the nineteenth century, workers, generally
women, would fill a tray to a depth of approximately two-thirds to
three-quarters of an inch with the albumen solution and float the paper on the
surface for one and an half minutes. Only on side of the paper would be coated
before drying, and if it dried quickly at a high temperature, the result would
be glossy. The sensitized and dried sheets of albumen paper were then hung in a
closed box and subjected to the vapors of ammonia. The fumes were supplied by
placing strong ammonia in a dish in the bottom of the box. The process
continued for 5-10 minutes and its purpose was to make the paper more sensitive
and to obtain richer, more brilliant prints.[14]
The
following is a video of making albumen print. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIRF90Je8Vw [15]
-Characteristics
Visible Paper Fibers [16]
Paper fibers are visible here under high
magnification and raking light. The layer structure of an albumen print
consists of raw paper and an albumen (egg white) binder in which the image
material is suspended. Additional surface coatings (i.e., baryta) that obscure
paper fibers are not present.
Layer Structure [17]
The albumen print consists of two layers: a
thin sheet of plain paper and an albumen (egg white) binder that secures the
silver image. In this picture, notice how the silver is consolidated in the
albumen layer.
*Fine Quality;
The albumen
print possessed a sharper image and a wider range of tones than its
predecessor, the salted paper print. Photographers prized the albumen print’s
rich density and its capacity to render fine detail when coupled with the
collodian negative.[18]
Albumen was
fundamentally superior to more dilute salting-sizing materials because it
created an entirely separate layer in which to form the silver image; this made
possible much greater density and contrast in the print. The albumen surface
was glossy, and its image hues could be altered to a characteristic rage of
colors.[19]
*Gold Toning;
Except for some
very early examples, virtually all albumen prints were gold-toned. Many photographers
found the brick-red color of the untoned albumen print to be unattractive, but
were pleased by the rich purple hues of the gold-toned print.
Gold toning
originated in 1841 as an improvement in the daguerreotype process, and was
first applied to paper prints in 1847. It changed the image hue on a silver
printing-out paper from reddish-brown to purple, and improved the stability of
the silver image. The exact color of gold-toned albumen prints varies from warm
purplish brown to blue-black, depending on the toner formula, time of toning,
and a number of factors in the preparation and exposure of the albumen paper.
The sequence of steps in processing an albumen print included washing, toning,
fixing, and final washing.
*Deteriorations;
The albumen
coating shrinks while drying, causing the thin paper to curl upward at the
edges, so albumen prints were usually mounted on boards or card stock. Usually
printed from collodion negatives, most were trimmed to eliminate the visible
edges of the negative and the non-image areas at their corners. Over time, loss
of detail in the highlight areas can be dramatic. Especially, mounted prints or
prints in albums and books have the tendency to fade from the outside edges
inward. Subject to spots and some silver mirroring, the albumen layer is also
prone to surface cracking.[20]
Also, albumen paper was inherently
"soft-working", and could not be easily adapted to produce good
prints from negatives of low contrast. When the gelatin dry plate replaced the
wet collodion negative process, the average contrast of negatives declined.[21]
-Importance:
As the predominant print method in the
1850s-1890s, the albumen print process introduced the rise of the great
industrial photographic houses. Albumen photographs were precise, detailed,
cheap and widely distributed. The albumen print brought photography into the
beginnings of mass production and consumption and let a greater variety of
subjects come into circulation. Photographers could make prints not just for
private clients who commissioned the image, but for a wider public that might
be interested in the subject.
-Bibliography
Hannavy, John. Encyclopedia of nineteenth-Century photography. New York : Taylor
&
Francis
Group, 2008.
Kennel, Sarah. In the Darkroom: An Illustrated Guide to Photographic Processes before
the
Digital Age. Washington: National Gallery of
Art, 2009.
Reilly, James M. Care and Identification of 19th-Century Photographic
Prints. Rochester:
Eastman
Kodak Company, 1986.
Reilly, James M.
“The History, Technique and Structure of Albumen Prints”. AIC Preprints.
“Albumen”. Graphics Atlas. http://www.graphicsatlas.org/
“Historic Camera- Louis-Dèsirè Blanquart-Evrard”,
History Camera.com. Last modified May 6,
“Louis
Désiré Blanquart-Evrard”, Wikipedia, last modified on 22 February 2013,
“St Pauls Photography -
Albumen Printing”,
YouTube,
“Tree”. The J.Paul Getty Museum.
[1] Sarah Kennel, In the Darkroom: An Illustrated
Guide to Photographic Processes before the Digital Age (Washington:
National Gallery of Art, 2009), 9.
[2] “Louis
Désiré Blanquart-Evrard”, Wikipedia, last modified on 22 February 2013, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_D%C3%A9sir%C3%A9_Blanquart-Evrard
[3] “Historic
Camera- Louis-Dèsirè Blanquart-Evrard”, History Camera.com, last modified May
6, 2012, http://www.historiccamera.com/cgi-bin/librarium2/pm.cgi?action=app_display&app=datasheet&app_id=1915&
[5] James M. Reilly, “The History, Technique and Structure of Albumen Prints”, AIC Preprints, May 1980, http://albumen.conservation-us.org/library/c20/reilly1980.html
[6] “Tree”, The
J.Paul Getty Museum, http://www.getty.edu/art/gettyguide/artObjectDetails?artobj=105483
[8] James M. Reilly, Care and
Identification of 19th-Century Photographic Prints (Rochester: Eastman Kodak Company, 1986),
6.
[10] “Albumen
(Pink Tinted CDV)”, Graphics Atlas, http://www.graphicsatlas.org/guidedtour/?process_id=166
[14] John Hannavy,
Encyclopedia of nineteenth-Century
photography (New York : Taylor & Francis Group, 2008), 24.
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