Re: Truth Beauty book
The Demachy story is recounted in Bill Jay's book (the one that has a rather one-track selection from Demachy's oeuvre) as (in 1894): "I was buying some hydroquinone at a dealer's, and complaining at the same time of my inability to secure the proper quality of blacks with gelatino-bromide paper. An unknown customer interrupted me and asked 'Why don't you try Poitevin's gum process,... it is easy enough...' I bought the required materials there and then, and next morning began gum bichromate printing..." ...after only 'a week or so of experimental coating and developing, I got a few fair results which were exhibited at the London Photographic Salon' The story is referenced to Practical Photographer, Library series, No.7 (1904) p.2 Best wishes Henry On 14/5/09 23:19, "Judy Seigel" <jseigel@panix.com> wrote: > > On Wed, 13 May 2009, Jack Brubaker wrote: > >> Chris wrote >> >>> What I cannot understand, though (forgive my opinion here), is that >>> generation's fascination with the Michallet paper that had strong vertical >>> lines. >> >> Chris, when I look at the Demachy prints I see someone trying to make >> photos look like chalk drawings. He chooses the red chalk color and >> uses the tiniest brushes lifting out highlights to emulate academic >> drawing standards of the 19th century. One of the prints in the St. >> Louis show a couple of years ago of fishermen pushing their boat up >> onto the beach had remarkable details in the hands. Knuckles that we >> would understand without further delineation in a photo he had >> carefully highlighted no matter how dense the shadow it hovered in. >> >> I love the prints but think it is a very interesting look into the era >> that he felt compelled to such extremes. In that context his use of >> common drawing paper texture seems a natural. >> >> Jack > > Exactly... besides which, they didn't have the factory materials we have > now. The story of the invention of gum printing is that Demachy was in his > photo supply shop (ca 1896), complaining that with the current material he > couldn't get a good black, when a fellow customer described someone's new > gum process: "you mix paint with gum arabic, add potassium dichromate, > coat it on paper, expose under a negative & wash in water." Demachy > allegedly made a few tests, then got his gum prints in the next salon. > > (The story was reprinted in a couple of early anthologies. I've got it > somewhere, but maybe someone knows the reference right off?) > > J.
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