A
few thoughts on the subject of photogravure. Nobody has ever said that
this process is easy. It involves two quite different disciplines and
only one is photographic. The second needs the assistance of a qualified
printmaker to oversee the inking and printing of the copper plate. Photogravure
originated as a way of reproducing photographs on the printed page. It
gives a far superior result to that of the universal half-tone process.
It has now been superseded by Duotone and the highly mechanised Rotogravure
method. When it started to be used as a means of making a high quality
print on hand made papers at the beginning of the 20th century, it was
embraced by the art photography movements. In the same way that they seized
upon gum printing and bromoil as being closer to the old masters than
mere camera operators, so did photogravure become the medium for the serious
photographer.
The fact that it could be issued in the form of a limited edition added to its appeal. At the turn of the century there were large numbers of plate makers and printing studios capable of producing editions on behalf of photographers. Emerson, Stieglitz and many others made editions of their work. It is interesting to see that in the modern auctioneers' catalogues platinum prints tend to realise higher prices than photogravures. This is somewhat ironic as photogravure was always regarded as being very close in its colours and tonalities to platinum. It is possible that the production of limited editions has depressed the prices at auction. Now, at the end of the 20th century there are only few skilled plate makers left in the world and if this chapter can persuade just a few people to revive the art of photogravure printing as a fine art, then it will have been justified.