Re: Hand collotype in process
Hi Lois,
That is true that you will not be able to keep it without mold. The
studio is very humid, and the process needs humidity. I am sure they
are strict about the environment, but at Benrido, everything is
"analogue." You will not see "state-of-art" facility there. Everything
they use in the studio is old and antique in a way. They have been
modifying them to their needs over a century.
Next year in Philadelphia, there is a printmaking event called
"Philagrafika ( http://www.philagrafika.org/)." We are hoping to have a
show of collotype March and April if everything goes well (if not we
will come up with something interesting as well). If anyone is coming
to Philadelphia whether for SPE or just visiting, make sure to stop by
out studio.
Warmly,
Tsuyoshi
On Jun 18, 2009, at 2:21 AM, Loris Medici wrote:
Thanks Tsuyoshi.
I definitely don't want / can't afford a specific collotype press.
Remaking the plates is absolutely reasonable; partially hardened
gelatin
doesn't sound something that you can keep well w/o experiencing
changes in
its properties... (That's especially so when thinking how fresh and
old
carbon tissue "from the same batch" works/reacts differently.) I
presume you
need a pretty strictly controlled environment for professional work
such
Benido does.
About reproductions and originals: I think it totally depends on how
they
are served to the market. Both system can be used for making
reproductions
or to produce originals. In any case - putting aside the value of
image
itself - I will definitely value both collotypes and photogravures
more
than inkjet prints, because they're special.
Regards,
Loris.
-----Original Message-----
From: Tsuyoshi Ito [mailto:tito@projectbasho.org]
Sent: Wednesday, June 17, 2009 4:01 PM
To: alt-photo-process-l@usask.ca
Subject: Re: Hand collotype in process
Hi Loris,
You can use a letter press machine like Vandercook to make collotype.
Collotpye press are usually huge and I would only assume it is
difficult to
find at this point.
The last company in US was Black Box in Chicago, and James Hajicek
transported a couple of huge presses to Arizona. I think the rest
was simply
destroyed.
Yamamoto-san at Berido told me that they can run up to 300 copies
out of a
plate, but they usually remake the plate before it reaches that
point. Also
they do not usually keep plates after printing. They scrape the
gelatin and
reuse glasses. If they want to run another batch, they start from
making
plates.
Collotype is very unique and is a victim of own beauty. It can
reproduce the
original so well that people thought they are always "reproductions"
of
original. Whereas when we see photogravure, for instance, we are
treating
them as another version of "original."
Though, of course the concept of original in photography is very
elusive,
this is an interesting point.
At Benrido, they sometimes print historical scriptures on old paper
since
collotype can pick up any subtlety and nuance of tones. They can
also do
color by separating into CMYK or more. Or they can print more like
old wood
block printing a layer by a layer sending color to specific parts of
images.
I do have this beautifully printed brochure about Benrido which was
a part
of the show in NY a couple of years ago. I would be happy to send it
out to
anyone who is interested. Just let me know where to send off list.
Warmly,
Tsuyoshi
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