Photogravure - Visual Culture

Photogravure was a process derived from trying to make an image more permanent - it then evolved into a method for reproducing an image in large editions. The process involved using a gelatin to carry an image. The image is exposed onto the gelatin- the gelatin would harden in proportion to its exposure to light. The areas not exposed to light would then wash away. The remaining gelatin would then be pressed onto a copper plate. Acid is then used on the plate - where the gelatin is thick the acid dissolves the metal slowly, where it is thin it dissolves faster - the result is an etching in the copper matching the tones of the original print. This plate can now be inked for printing. Wow, they used to use their smarts a lot back then - because they had no TV.

Breezy Marshland, 1889Peter Henry Emerson, 1856 - 1936Photogravure

Author Unknown. (). Photogravure. Available: http://www.vam.ac.uk/vastatic/microsites/photography/processframe.php?processid=pr017. Last accessed 8 August 2009.