The Identification of Photographic Print Processes

Course Description

“I think that anyone who would like to know more about how photographs are made—technically, historically—could benefit from this course.” — 2016 student This course will offer instruction in the identification and characterization of all the major photographic print processes, from the earliest photographs of the nineteenth century to modern digital prints. The processes to be considered 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 to distinguish photomechanical prints from photographs and how deterioration affects the appearance of photographs. The course will use a structured, observation-based approach to print identification in which a variety of specific characteristics—such as image structure, color, visibility of paper fibers, texture, sheen, and image deterioration—are considered in logical order. Along with process identification, the course will touch on the evolution of photograph technology and aesthetic trends, and will consider the major processes in chronological order. Students will learn to use tools and techniques for examining photographic prints, such as how to use a low power loupe magnifier and a pocket microscope.  A small sample set of photographs will be supplemented by lectures on process, printing technologies, history, and use of the website Graphics Atlas.

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Advance Reading List

Preliminary Advices & Readings

Please familiarize yourself with the following resources, which provide background for the topics that we will explore in class. These are not intended to be read cover-to-cover, but serve as excellent reference resources.

Graphics Atlas: www.graphicsatlas.org. Please familiarize yourself with this web resource. We will use it as a reference resource in class. Plan to bring a laptop or tablet to class.

Lavedrine, Bertrand. Photographs of the Past: Process and Preservation. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 2009.

Pénichon, Sylvie. Twentieth Century Color Photographs: Identification and Care. Los Angeles: The Getty Conservation Institute, 2013.

Reilly, James M. Care and Identification of 19th-Century Photographic Prints. Rochester, NY: Photographic Products Group, Eastman Kodak Company, 1986. Now back in print and available through IPI new for $60. It is also available in many libraries or through interlibrary loan. There are copies on Amazon, but at an inflated price.

In addition, there are a number of standard and in-print histories of photography, worth consulting ad lib., including:

Coe, Brian. Colour Photography – The First Hundred Years 1840–1940. London: Ash & Grant Ltd., 1978. Though most of this book is not about color print processes (especially more modern ones), there is still valuable information here, especially about early color prints.

Gernsheim, Helmut. A Concise History of Photography. New York: Dover, 1986 (reprint edition).

Mulligan, Therese, and David Wooters, eds. A History of Photography:From 1839 to the Present; the George Eastman House Collection. Cologne: Taschen Books, 2005 (reprint edition).

Newhall, Beaumont. History of Photography: From 1839 to the present. Boston: Bulfinch, 1982 (reprint edition).

Rosenblum, Naomi. A World History of Photography. New York: Abbeville Press, 2008 (reprint edition).

 

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Course Evaluations

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Course History