Pre-Digital Photographic Technology

Photographer – Christe Garvey

Source - https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10201461957974949&set=pcb.10201461965615140&type=1&theater

Somebody once told me “Think about it, from the death of Christ until 1900 AD, most people got around using horses as the primary mode of transportation.  Look at how far technology has brought us in 100 years.”  I don’t remember who said that to me, but I will never forget what they said.  It’s unbelievable to me how much technology has changed and the effect it has made on society. 

The picture above is from a recent trip I took to St. Thomas with my family.  In the picture is my oldest son Cayden (far left), me (middle), and an islander (far right) on a mission to give us an island memory.  My son had already been given the official island hat made out of shredded coconut tree leaves.  But this gentleman gave my son a fresh mango, and he was showing me the proper way to cut a fresh coconut.  Thanks to modern day technology my wife was able to take this picture in about 7 seconds; 3 seconds to get the phone from her purse – 3 seconds to open her camera application – 1 second to push the camera button and capture the moment.

After reading a story about Roger Fenton (possibly the first war photographer) and how much gear he had to carry around to get one image; it made me think of the trails and tribulations photojournalism must have gone through to get where we are today.  Then I watched a video on the wet plate collodion process that Mr. Fenton used and how much skill it required, and that instilled a great deal of respect for the photographers who paved the way to where we are today.

I then went on to research the history of photogravure, and it led me to appreciate the technology we have today even more.  A man by the name of Mark Katzman went into great length to thoroughly explain the entire procedure and its history.  He wrote an article titled “The History of Photogravure” and described its “ESSENTIAL ROLE in the origin and evolution of photography.”  He would go on to say “Its history is inextricably intertwined with the earliest discoveries and pursuits of the medium. While initial interest in photogravure was motivated by an effort to solve technical problems, over time photogravure was practiced for its own distinct merits.” 

 

Photographer – Alfred Steiglitz
Source - http://www.photogravure.com/key_examples/keyworks_originals.html

 I don't know if I completely agree with the famous Weegee when he said "What I did, anybody could do."  After reading what the photographers had to do to develop a single picture using this method, I can’t help but feeling blessed for living in this current century.  Photogravure required a multi-step process of Preparing a Plate, Preparing the Image, Transferring the Image to the Plate, Etching the Plate, and Printing the Plate.  It’s unfathomable to compare and contrast what I went through to capture my image to what these photographers had to do to complete theirs.

I laughed to myself as I read a quote that Mark Katzman used from an extremely grateful publisher named Thomas Annan.  Thomas was thanking a man named Karl Klic who evolved the photogravure process and he was quoted saying "I beg to express my entire satisfaction with your gravure process... The process itself is very valuable to a fine art publisher because of the beauty of the work and the crafted manner in which the plates are executed. With many thanks to me and my son I remain, Dear Sir, yours very truly" March 11, 1883.  I can’t help but think how excited Mr. Annan would be if I showed him an Iphone.  Although Klic’s gravure process revolutionized the photography industry, and was widely used to illustrate high-quality books with photographs; I will still take my Iphone's 7 second system over yours Mr. Klic…  Sorry.