Chapter 2

Photogravure can be defined as the process of photographically transferring an image to a metal plate then printing it. The end results of photogravure are either black or grey. In the year 1878, photogravure was officially created by a painter named Karel Klíč. However, prior to that, in the year 1852, a British man named William Talbot had begun using parts of the soon to be photogravure process. Karel had used various elements from Talbot's idea. The process was carried over the years and is still used in various places today. It is now also called the Talbot-Klíč photogravure process because it was based on both William and Karel. The process is used a lot amongst photographers and artists. Identifying a photogravure print is very easy due to the honeycomb appearance and platemark that is leftover around the print.

       Henry Talbot had begun the photogravure process with the aim of creating a print that could be kept for a long period of time and would not fade. This method was what drew newspapers to begin using the process as well. The first published photogravure photo was published in Lerebours’ Excursions Daguérriennes. Emerson’s photogravures illustrated five books and thus can be considered some of the earliest examples of fine art pictorial photogravures. Karel Klíč had also given publishing rights to various people who made use of his printing methods as an illustration in their books. Due to the long process of photogravure, it was difficult for newspapers to make use of it because they were required to publish multiple photos as once which is what led to them using more advanced methods such as rotogravures.Professor Nordell had mentioned in the video that "a famous photographer named Roger Fenton had gone out to take pictures during the Crimean war in the 19th century." These photos were then published which enabled the world to know what was going on at the war for the first time.

Photo by Lerebours, Noël Paymal

https://photogravure.com/collection/france-hotel-de-ville-de-paris/?artist=All&period=&cw=&portfolio=Excursions%20Da

     Photogravure compared to digital photography obvious have a very significant difference. The biggest difference being the amount of time it takes to take a photo. According to professor Nordell, before a picture could be published, "artist would have to cut out a block print, prepared before it could be published"This supports the comparison that in the 19th-century photogravure process took such a long time, now that there is access to both a mobile phone and digital cameras. Both of these devices can capture a photo within seconds. The quality of theses technologies is also different because when a picture is taken with a mobile phone now, it is very clear and also portraits mode could make the smallest things in a photo visible. Due to the lack of advanced technology back then, it was difficult for photographers and journalist to get a good photo unlike now photojournalist have various options to choose from to take a picture.

Picture by:- Halima Johnson

        Although this image which was taken during a camp retreat is not a photojournalistic image, it shows how beautiful nature truly is. If such a picture was taken in the 19th century, it is more difficult for it to be taken because not only does it take too long, according to the narrator in the wet collodion process video, the solution required for the pictures "take a minimum of a week to settle down before use".

sources cited

http://www.historyofinformation.com/detail.php?id=2872
https://www.getty.edu/conservation/publications_resources/pdf_publications/pdf/atlas_photogravure.pdf
https://photogravure.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/M.-Daniel.pdf
https://photogravure.com/story-of-photogravure/