Print Nostalgia: Imitating Historic Processes Through Modern Techniques

    

Imitation Photography: What is it? 

      The advent of both digital photography and photographic editing software has exponentially increased the ease and versatility of photo-editing. Simultaneously, the ability to edit images to imitate prints made from historic processes has become increasingly popular. At at time when digital images increase the preservation potential of photography, both amateur and professional photographers are looking back to analog methods for inspiration. I think that much of this nostalgia comes from a comfortable familiarity with the analog prints with which we grew up. Photographer and blogger Elizabeth Graves writes, "Our history books and family albums are filled with images made with wet chemical technologies: it sometimes feels like those images are fragments of history in their own right. Digital imaging hasn’t yet had a chance to make such a deep, long-term impression on us." She adds that other factors for historic replication are the abundance of digital images (due to their ease of production) and their lack of their "own distinctive look" (Graves). Additionally, the rise of social media catalyzed the distribution of these altered photographs. Two of the most popular technologies for historic filters, Hipstamatic and Instagram, became popularized through social media. They have become so integral to the new social experience that Facebook purchased Instagram in 2012 for $1 billion. Why is it so important to incorporate these filters when sharing photos with your friends? Social media expert Nathan Jurgenson asserts that “adding these filters [to photos] is a way of simulating value and worth...because real old photos have stood the test of time and have a sense of importance as a result" (Brown). Regardless of why, imitation techniques have become hugely popular. Here's a few examples: 

Recreating Autochrome via Photoshop

     In his blog, photographer Mark S. Abeln explains his attempt to make digital images look like autochrome photographs. He began this process by identifying autochrome's three primaries, which he describes as "reddish-orange, a weak blueish violet color, and green." He designed his photo editing around those colors and even reproduced the grains of starch found in autochromes. You can find the entire step-by-step process for making autochrome imitations on his blog. Here's the results of his experiments: 

Before: 

After:

Recreating Wet Plate Photos via Photoshop

     On this website, Melody Nieves explains her methods of transforming a digital image into a wet-plate look-alike. She uses photoshop tools such as Textures, Noise, and Opacity to produce a "chemical effect" within the photographs (Nieves). Her entire step-by-step process can be found here.

Digital image before editing: 

And after editing:

Instagram & Hipstamatic 

Instagram is an enormously popular smartphone application with over 100 million users. It is available in 9 different languages. Rather than needing to upload photos to a computer and edit them using imaging software, Instagram users can snap photos with their cell phones using Instagram's filters, many of which are aimed to replicate analog prints. While Instagram photos can easily be exported to other social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, the app itself supports followers and hashtags (a la twitter) and location tagging (similar to foursquare) and comments, like most social media outlets. Instagram is a free service and there are numerous resources on the web for tweaking your Instagram skills. Here's a webpage that gives a basic usage instructions.

My friend and fellow GSLIS student Elizabeth Mc Gorty visited Fenway Park this past weekend. Here are her photos of the park, using four different Instagram "retro" filters. 

Filter: Nashville

Filter: Willow

Filter: Sierra

Filter: Early Bird

     Like Instagram, Hipstamatic is a social-media oriented app which encourages filtered photography. With the motto of "Digital Photography never looked so analog," Hipstamatic offers its users various "films" and "lenses," many reminiscent of the latter half of the 20th century (Hipstamatic). Here's an introduction to using Hipstamatic. 

Bibliography:

Instagram photos courtesy of Elizabeth Mc Gorty. 

Abeln, Mark S. "An Imitation of the Autochrome Lumière Process." The Refracted Light. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://therefractedlight.blogspot.com/2012/03/imitation-of-autochrome-lumiere-process.html>.

Brown, Ryan Lenora. "Faux Filters Wash out History." The Christian Science Monitor. The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Mar. 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.csmonitor.com/The-Culture/Arts/2013/0319/Faux-filters-wash-out-history>.

Geron, Tomio. "Facebook Officially Closes Instagram Deal." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 06 Sept. 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomiogeron/2012/09/06/facebook-officially-closes-instagram-deal/>.

Graves, Elizabeth. "Imitation Is the Sincerest Form of Flattery: Thoughts on Faux-Alt-Process Digital Images." Alternative Photography. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://www.alternativephotography.com/wp/open-blog/imitation-is-the-sincerest-form-of-flattery-thoughts-on-faux-alt-process-digital-images>.

"Hipstamatic."  Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://hipstamatic.com/>.

Messieh, Nancy. "The Ultimate Beginners Guide to Hipstamatic." MakeUseOf. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/ultimate-beginners-guide-hipstamatic/>.

Nieves, Melody. "Quick Tip: Create a Wet Plate Photo Effect in Photoshop." Psd Tuts+. Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://psd.tutsplus.com/tutorials/photo-effects-tutorials/wet-plate-photo-effect/>.

"Press Center." Instagram. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://instagram.com/press/>.

Waters, Sue. "The Educator’s Guide to Instagram and Other Photo Apps." The Edublogger.  Web. 24 Apr. 2013. <http://theedublogger.com/2012/05/28/the-educators-guide-to-instagram-and-other-photo-apps/>.