Photogravure

Jannah Esa

History of Photojournalism

Photogravure


Technology is a dream come true in today’s society, especially with the development of photos. Professor Nordell states in his video, Before There Were Pixels Part 1, the meaning of photography, “From photo and graphy together meaning drawing with light or representation by means of line” From this definition, photographs can be described as the use of light to represent history. The rise of photography was a huge dream for photojournalist over many years and camera development throughout history is iconic. From wet plates, having to wait five to eight minutes to capture a photo, to digital camera which captures a moment in history instantly, the world has come a very long way.

One major development during the rise of photography was a process called photogravure. This process was invented by William Henry Fox Talbot and Karel Klíč, in the 1830’s and later upgraded in 1878 according to Jeremy Norman in the Invention of Photogravure. Dusan C. Stulik in Photogravure explains the long history of photogravure as follows: “The roots of the photogravure process can be traced back to William Henry Fox Talbot (1852), who used a “screen” of black crepe for the mechanical translation of tone values on a steel plate coated with a light-sensitive layer of dichromated gelatin. This was the starting point for both the photogravure. Charles Nègre (1820–1880) published his early version of the photogravure process in La Lumière (1854). Nègre’s process utilized the “self-graining” property of etched steel, which eliminated the need for using the resin grain. The main breakthrough came in 1879, when Karel Klíč combined elements of Talbot’s photoglypty process with the use of carbon tissue and developed a variant widely adopted by artists, photographers, and printers." The photo below is a photo printed using the photogravure process.




The Open Door

Photo By: William Henry Fox Talbot


Image Source: https://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/2005.100.498

There is a relationship between a photojournalist and his or her photos. These photos tell stories that photojournalist fight and sacrificed for, which deserve to be told. Photogravure had a huge impact on showing the world these photos. Kurt Cagle in The Rise and Fall of Traditional Journalism, Part 1 states "With the invention of considerably more sophisticated printing technology (photogravure) in the 1870's, it became possible to create photographic images for reproduction in newspapers and magazines. This period also, not coincidentally, marked the rise of the advertising industry -- as such a process made possible the easy reproduction of advertising graphics -- and the rise of photojournalism." Photogravure allowed photojournalism to come alive, where photos could be printed and shared with the world. In his video, Before There Were Pixels part 1, Professor John Nordell states that there was a time when there was no technology available to publish photographs in newspaper. He also states in his video that in the past people had to rely on artist interpretation of events. At that time in history, photojournalist was not able to show the world the truth, or tell the raw stories of any events. However, with the development of the photogravure process, photojournalist were able to capture moments of history and connect them to the world.

Photography is very advanced in today's society. When I take a photo, such as the photo below, I easily and instantly capture the story I want to tell. However, in the past with processes such as photogravure and using wet plates, it took a while to capture these moments. The photogravure process is extensive and easily be mishandled. I did not have to worry about doing anything wrong while taking photos. I can take photos anywhere and any time, which cannot be said with previous photo taking processes. Photos today show the full truth of the moment captured from accuracy of shapes to the intensity of color. However, in William Talblot's photo, there is no intensity of color, and because the colors in his photo is so close in contrast some of the items in the photo cannot be made out. In his video, Before There Were Pixels Part 2 John Nordell reads "A photograph on the other hand was initially thought to offer a direct, unmutilated, slice of reality." The development of photography exemplifies this quote. I cannot imagine a world without technology of photography we have now. I no longer take for granted the moments in history that this generation has been able to capture.





Photo By: Jannah Esa