Course

The Identification of Photographic & Digital Print Processes

I 35

This course will offer instruction in identifying and dating all major processes used in creating photographs, photomechanical prints, and digital prints. It will utilize original examples from the instructor’s collection, as well as those from RBS and the UVA library.

  • Instructor(s)
    Ryan Boatright
  • Location
    Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia
  • Date
    31 May–5 June 2026
  • Length
    30 hours
  • Fee
    $1,495
  • Course ID
    I-35
  • Application Deadline
    Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis until course fills. Read more about the application process.
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Course Description

Students are encouraged to bring their own objects for examination and discussion. The processes considered will fall into four broad categories: nineteenth-century, twentieth-century black and white, twentieth-century color, and twenty-first-century digital. The course will discuss methods for distinguishing photomechanical and digital prints from actual photographs. It will employ a structured approach to print identification, considering a variety of specific characteristics, such as image structure, color, visibility of paper fibers, texture, sheen, differential gloss, and image deterioration in a logical order. The course will also examine how a print or photograph’s appearance can be altered by deterioration and handling.

Another component of this workshop will be devoted to contemporary display methods for photographs, including their stability and preservation. The instructor will discuss various real-world display solutions, covering their strengths and weaknesses. Participants will receive practical advice on handling, storage enclosures, and proper display and storage conditions.

In this course, students will learn to use a low-power loupe magnifier and a stereo microscope for examining photographic prints. Classroom examples will be supplemented by lectures on process history and the use of the website Graphics Atlas.

Faculty

Ryan Boatright

Ryan Boatright is the co-founder of Atelier Boba, a fine art printing and conservation studio in Paris, France. There, he works full-time as a contemporary printmaker, employing various standard and …

Advance Reading List

Reading List

  • Reilly, James. Care and Identification of 19th-Century Photographic Prints. Rochester, NY: Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester Institute of Technology, 1986.
  • Pénichon, Sylvie. Twentieth-Century Color Photographs: Identification and Care. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 2013.
  • Jürgens, Martin. The Digital Print Identification and Preservation. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 2009.

Digital Resources

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Course History

  • 2024

    Ryan Boatright teaches this course in person as “The Identification of Photographic & Digital Print Processes.”

  • 2021

    Al Carver-Kubik and Jennifer Jae Gutierrez co-teach a 22-hour online version of this course, I-35v “The Identification of Photographic Print Processes.”

  • 2018–2019

    Al Carver-Kubik teaches this course as “The Identification of Photographic Print Processes.”

  • 2008–2016

    James Reilly and Ryan Boatright co-teach this course as “The Identification of Photographic Print Processes.”