Sunday, February 24, 2013

Photogravure Format

Intaglio press, late 19th century
Retrieved from http://www.photogravure.
com/history/chapter_introduction.html, (Feb. 2013)
 

Background:

Improving on Henry Fox Talbot’s experiments with photogravure as a process to give greater permanence to images, “in 1879, Karl Klíc, a painter living in Vienna patented an improved method for applying an aquatint grain to break up the image and allow for deeper etched shadows. In addition, Klíc invented a technique of transferring the image from a negative, to a copper plate by way of gelatin-coated carbon pigment paper” (Katzman et al., n.d.).  It is a photo-mechanical process still used today.


The photogravure is a “permanent” photograph and according to Ritzenthaler and Vogt-O'Connor, “ since permanent photographs did not employ silver as the light-sensitive material, a number of other light-sensitive materials were used, the most common being bichromated gelatin” (Ritzenthaler and Vogt-O'Connor, p.49).


Karel Klíc, 1841 - 1926.
Retrieved from  http://www.photogravure
.com/history/chapter_klic.html, (Feb. 2013)


 


 Photogravure:
Naturalistic Photography and Pictorialism


 In the late nineteenth century, visual culture was more prominent and there was an “emphasis on craft and artistry in journals and societies devoted to amateur photography was specifically aimed at fostering an aesthetic attitude toward the medium on the part of photographers. (Rosenblum, 2000, 4th ed., p. 297)


Footbridge Near Tottenham. 1888.
Photogravure print.

Retrtieved from http://www.photogravure.com/history
/keyfigures_emerson.html (Feb. 2013)
P.H. Emerson used the photogravure process to give expression to his philosophical ideas on photography and art.  In his book, “Naturalistic Photography for Students of the Arts (1889) Emerson claimed that a sharp and uniform image does not accurately represent the way the world appears to our eyes. He believed that for a photograph to be "truthful" it should be soft and impressionistic, bringing it closer to what he considered the appearance of nature.  Emerson advocated a type of focusing he believed replicated human vision: sharp focus for the central object and modest softness for the surrounding field” (Katzman et al., n.d.).



Creator: Peter Henry Emerson (English, 1856-1936)
Title: The Lone Lagoon
Date: ca. 1890
Material: photogravure print. print ca. 1895

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html 




Creator: Peter Henry Emerson (English, 1856-1936)
Title: A Winter's Sunrise
Date: ca. 1890
Material: photogravure print. print ca. 1895

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html 



Emerson inspired Pictorialism which “was characterized by painterly techniques involving soft focus lenses and heavily manipulated printing processes like gum bichromate and bromoil” (Katzman et al., n.d.).  The late ninetennth century Pictorialists, who used photogravure, included George Davison and Alfred Stieglitz.


The Onion Field
DAVISON, GEORGE, b.1854-1930
Camera Work XVIII, 1890
Photogravure

Retrieved from http://www.photogravure.com/
history/chapter_introduction.html (Feb.2013)




 

Creator: Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946)
Title: Reflections - Venice
Date: 1894
Material: photogravure print. print ca. 1897

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html 
  

Creator: Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946)
Title: The Street - Design for a Poster
Date: 1896
Material: photogravure print

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html 
  

Creator: Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946)
Title: The Glow of Night - New York
Date: 1896
Material: photogravure print

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html  

Creator: Alfred Stieglitz (American, 1864-1946)
Title: City of Ambition
Date: 1910
Material: photogravure print

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.
library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html  

Creator: Alfred Stieglitz
Creator: American, 1864 - 1946
Title: Spring Showers
Work Type: Photographs
Work Type: photogravure

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.
library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html  

Creator: Alfred Stieglitz, North American; American, 1864 - 1946,  (photographer)
Title: A Snapshot; Paris
Work Type: Photographs
Date: 1911
Material: photogravure

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html 





The More Photogravure Gallery:
Examples of documentary, straight, early modernist works. 


Creator: Edward S. Curtis (American, 1868 -1952)
Title: Fishing With A Gaff-Hook - Paviotso
Date: 1896-1924
Material: photogravure print

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html  

Creator: Edward S. Curtis (American, 1868 -1952)
Title: A Blackfoot Travois
Date: 1896-1926
Material: photogravure print

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html 
  


Creator: Frederick Henry Evans
Title: Height and Light in Bourges Cathedral; from Camera Work, No. 4, October 1903, plate III
Work Type: photograph
Date: 1903
Material: photogravure

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html  


Creator: Gertrude Käsebier; Photochrome Engraving Company
Title: Portrait (Miss N), plate IV, Camera Work, No. 1, January 1903
Work Type: photograph
Date: 1903
Material: photogravure on Japan paper

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html  


Creator: Alvin Langdon Coburn (British, 1882-1966)
Title: Broadway at Night
Date: ca. 1910
Material: photogravure print

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html 
  

Creator: Paul Strand, North American; American, 1890 - 1976,  (photographer)
Title: New York
Work Type: Photographs
Date: 20th century
Material: photogravure

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html 
  
Creator: Paul Strand, North American; American, 1890 - 1976,  (photographer)
Title: Photograph-New York
Work Type: Photographs
Date: 20th century
Material: photogravure

Retrieved from http://0-library.artstor.org.library.simmons.edu/library/welcome.html 




Identification:


According to Graphics Atlas (n.d.), "One key indicator of the photogravure process is a fine aquatint grain. This can often be seen with the low magnification of a loupe, although in certain instances a microscope may be necessary (Identification of Photogravure section).



Above image is 50x magnificatio
of image on left.







Images retrieved from http://www.graphicsatlas.org/identification/?process_id=125


  

According to (Reilly), "photgravures have a matte surface and may be of any image color" (p. 71) and "one of the distinguishing characteristics of photogravure under microscopic examination is a variation in the amount of ink deposited: less in light areas and more in dark areas" (p. 57).




References
 
                    Image Permanence Institute (2013). Graphics Atlas: Identification 
                    of photogravure 
                    Retrieved from http://www.graphicsatlas.
                    org/identification/?process_id=125

Reilly, James M.(1986). Care and identification of 19th century photographic prints.   
Rochester, NY: Eastman Kodak Co.
   
Ritzenthaler, Vogt-O'Connor, Zinkham, Carnell, & Peterson (2006).   
Photographs: Archival Care and Management (4th ed.).
Chicago, IL: Society of American Archivists. 
  
Rosenblum, Naomi (2007, 4th ed.).  A World History of Photography.  
New York, NY: Abbeville Press.


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