Dry gelatin ‘Photo-mechanical’ plates – their significance in the evolution of scientific & technical photography
2023; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 72; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/13682199.2023.2195701
ISSN1743-131X
Autores Tópico(s)Photography and Visual Culture
ResumoABSTRACTThis literature review charts the early evolution of silver halide photographic technology in photo-mechanical printing for artwork reproduction. It concentrates on a key point in time around the 1890s and most specifically around 1895 as these dates are significant in this evolution. By this time dry gelatin Process and Half-tone plates were commercially available as an alternative to the wet collodion process and a comparison is made between these. The work contains references to the contemporary literature to aid further research and uses this to show how studies published on the spectral sensitivities and reciprocity behaviour of commercial products can provide an insight into the formulation of these materials. It places these products in context of the development of the photographic detection of X-rays and radioactivity and later products such as line film.KEYWORDS: Photo-mechanicalprocess plateshalftone platessilver halideline filmdry gelatinwet collodionartwork reproduction Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 It will become apparent from the references listed that much of this transition was recorded in The RPS Journal of the time. The scientific content of this Journal transitioned through a number of titles over time, eventually becoming this Imaging Science Journal.2 By way of contrast the image of this large camera was recorded by the author in 2020 using a Moto G5 smartphone.3 My copy is undated but probably originated in the 1930s. Reproduced by arrangement with The Gresham Publishing Company Ltd, Glasgow.4 This statue can be found outside the National Archives in Washington DC. The author was taking part in meetings within the Archives in 2019 when the early thoughts of this work commenced and this image recorded on a Moto G5 smartphone.Additional informationNotes on contributorsAlan HodgsonDr Alan Hodgson spent 22 years in technical roles at Ilford Photo, manufacturer of silver halide photographic products. During this time he worked on scientific products that can trace their derivation from these early Photomechanical products. He is Past President of both the Society for Imaging Science & Technology (IS&T) and The Royal Photographic Society. He is currently Chair of ISO TC 42, the International Standards committee for Photography and a Fellow of the Institute of Physics. The runs his own consultancy company on printing technologies in fields from cultural heritage to secure documents.
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