LOOKING AT PHOTOGRAPHS LOOKING AT PHOTOGRAPHS A GUIDE TO TECHNICAL TERMS Gordon Baldwin THE J. PAUL GETTY MUSEUM i 11 a s s o c i a t i o 11 \\' i t h BRITIS H MUSEUM PRESS © 1991 The.J. Paul Getty Museum Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Baldwin, Gordon. Published by the Looking at photographs : a guide to technical terms I Gordon Baldwin. J. Paul Getty Museum p. cm. 17985 PacificCoast 1-Iighway Includes bibliographical rerereIHTS. Malibu. California 902fi:;-5799 ISB:-.1 0-89236- 192- 1 in associaLion with 1. Photographv--Tenninology. I. Tille. British Museum Press TR9.B3:; 1991 A division of British Museum 770' .3--dr20 90-2886 1 Publications Ltd CIP 46 Bloomsbury Streel, London WC1B :iQQ British Library Cataloguing in Publica1ion Data At the .J. Paul Gem· �luseum: Baldwin. Gordon Christopher Hudson, I lead of Publit·;nions Looking at pholOgraphs : a guide to 1ed1nical terms. Cynthia Newman Helms. Managing Editor 1. Photography Andrea P. A. Belloli, Consulting Editor I. Title II. Bri1ish Museum 111. .J. Paul Getty Museum lleenie Yudell, Design Manager 770 Karen Schmidt, Pn>durLion Manag-er ISB'.'\ 0-7q1-1120-X (Bri1ish Museum Publica1ions) Leslee Holderness. Sales and Distribution Manager Copyright of the illustrations is indica1ed in the captions by the initialsJPGM (,). Paul Getty Museum) and BM (Bri1ish Museum). The illustratious on pp. 24, 38, 40, 42, 4'.�· and 10 are ©Stephen Shore, Nancy Burson, Frederick Sommer, Eileen Cowin, The publishers \\'<mid like to acknowledge that the title Looking al PhotogmfJh.1 William Wegman, Jo Ann Callis, was first used by 1he Museum of Modern Art, New York. in 1974, for a and Ruth Thorne-Thomsen, book bv .John Szarkowski. l\lr. Szarkowski's invaluable guide to the respectively. The illustrations on acs1hetics or photographv is wholll· different from the present glossar\' of p. 25 and p. 77 arc© Man Ray technical rerms. Trust/ADAGP-Paris/ARS-USA, Cover: Eugene Atget (French, 18:;7- 1 927). Au Petit D1111kerque, 3 quai 19 17 and 1932, respec1ively; p. 72, Conti, 1900. Albumen print showing ghost figure, 20.gx 17.7 cm © 1981 Arizona Board of Regents, (8'/H x7 in.). JPGM, 90.XM-45. 1. Center for Creative Photography; . p. 83, © 1960 The Ralston Craw­ Frontispiece: Louis Pierson (French, 18 18-1913). Napoleon Ill and the ford Estate. Prince !111/Jt'rial, c 1859. Albumen print, 20.4 x 15.6 cm (81/11i x 61/8 in.). Jl'GM, 84.XM.70;. Foreword The purpose of this book is Lo provide a series of concise explana­ tions or the terms most frequently used by curators, collectors, and historians to deal with the phenomenon called photography. As this book is intended forsomeone actually looking at photo­ graphs, the list of terms has been limited to those likely to appear on descriptive labels in exhibitions or in catalogue entries. From its origins al the end of the 1830s, photography has ne\'er ceased to evolve both aesthetically and technologically. For example, judging by their lellers to Lhc periodicals of the 1850s, individual photographers consistently modified both the chemical formulae and the physical manipulations required to produce negati\TS and prims. They also redesigned and altered their cameras and lenses. Early photographers introduced these modi­ fications for a variety or reasons, but principally to improve the ellicacy of the chemical reactions involved or to produce a variety of \'isual results that were governed by aesthetic choices. "foday the changes occurring in photographic materials and equipmelll arc far more likely LO be the work of commercial manuf"acturers. In both periods, however, change has been constant. Fm· this reason the descriptions of processes that follow are somewhat generic. When trade names have been introduced, they have been gi\·en as examples rather than recommendations. In the writing of this book I have had the welcome advice of many rriends and colleagues at the .J. Paul Getty Museum, British Museum, and other institutions. I am grateful to Andrea P. A. Belloli, Robin Clark, Sheryl Conkelton, Christopher Date, Alan Donnithorne,Joan Dooley, Teresa Francis, Andee Hales, Peggy Hanssen, Kurt Hauser, Debbie Hess Norris, Judith Keller, Hope Kingsley, Craig Klyver, Brita Mack, Julia Nelson-Gel, Arthur Oilman, Charles Passela, Sandra Phillips, Ellen M. Roscnbery, Larr\' Schaaf, Karen Schmidt, Louise Stover, John Szarkowski, and Jay Thompson. I am particularly indebted to Weston Naef for his encouragemenL, to John Harris for his patience, and to Jean Smeader for both patience and paleographic expertise. ALBUMEN PRINT (;ustave Le (;r;I\· (French. 1820-188,t). Iirig 011 th!' \\i1/l'I', 1856. Albumen prim. :12x40.8 cm (12:v.-.x161/11; i11.) . .JP<;�1. 84.xM.li;\7.2. ALBUMEN PRINT The albumen print was in\'clllcd in 18;jo by Louis-lksire Blanquart-hTard (18<>1!-1872), and until about 1890 ii 11·as the most prn·alcnt type of print. :'\ormalh- made from a coLLODIO:" ncgatil'c on glass, it yielded a clearer image than the sALTED- l'Al'ER print that preceded it in general use. An albumen print was made by floating a sheet of thin paper Oil a bath of egg white containing salt , which had been whisked, allowed Lo subside, and filt ered. This produced a smooth surface, the pores of the paper ha\'ing been filled by the albumen. After drying. the albumcnizcd paper was sensitized by floating it 011 a bath of sill-er nitrate solution or by brushing on the same so lution. The paper was again dried. but this time in the dark. (The salt and sill'cr nitrate combined to form light-scnsitil'c SIL\'ER SAI:rs.) This doubly coated paper 11as put imo a wooden, hinged-back frame, in contact with a negative, usually made of glass but occasionally of \\'AXED PAPER; it was then placed in the sun to print (sec l'RI:"TI:\G­ oL'T). The progress or the printing could be checked by carefully opening the back of the frame. Arter printing, which sometimes required only a few minutes but could take an hour or more, the resultant proof, still uns table, was fixed by immersing it in a solution of hyposulfite of soda ("hypo") and water and then thoroughly washed to prevent further chemical reactions. The print was then dried. Va riations in tone and hue were achiel'cd by stopping the processes described above at differelll stages and times or, more usually, by additional T01'11'G. (Arter 18;j;j. albumen .\"oft' \\.ords printed in prints 11-ere almost always toned with gold chloride, which S'.\L\1.1. L\l'J"l:\l.S rekr to 01her entries in enriched their color and increased their permanence.) The the hook. Synon\'mous finished print ranges in color from reddish to purplish brown and lenns appear in is usually glossy, although some early photographers preferred to parenthl'ses; rcla1cd terms arl' Sl'para1ed reduce surface sheen by diluting the albumen with water. Ir an Ii\' a slash mark. albumen print has deteriorated, its highlights arc yellowish. AMIROTYPE Ambrotypes, as they arc called in America, \\TIT named, iL seems, ( COLLODION POSITIVE) after their popularizer, James Ambrose Cutting ( 1814-1867), who patented a spccillc variety of them. They arc often confused with the earlier DA(;Ut:HJU:OTYl'ES, but they were made by an entirely different process, as their British name, co1.1.on10 N positives on glass, indicates. Both ambrotypes and daguerreotypes were similar in their size (small), in their packaging format (under glass in hinged cases), and in their superficial appearance (both having sharply de!ined images). Both were primarily used for portraiture and were unique images. An ambrotype, however, docs nol have the troublesome surface rellections of the daguerreotype, and its highlights ;u-e sort and pearly in LOnc rather than clear and crisp. The basic process for prod ucing an ambrotype was !irst pub­ lished in 18s1. It is an underexposed and then del'elopcd collodion ncgaLi1·e on glass, whitish in Lone, 1,·hich when backed with an opaque coating (black lacquer, for example) appears as a positive image. (Where a highlight is juxtaposed to a black area, there Giil be a surprising discominuity of surface caused by the dimensional difference between the image Oil the faceof the glass plate and the black backing.) As ambrot ypes were easier Lo tint and faster and chcapc1· to make and sell than daguerreotypes, they rapidly replaced daguer­ n:otypes in the late 18!)0S, only to be largely replaced in turn by TINTYPES and CAHTES-llE-VISrn: in Lhe 18(ios. AMIROTYPE (COLLODION POSlllVE) \Ltthc1,· Brad\' (:\111tTir.a11. ('. 1K:!:\-IH�1()) Hirtmito/a l\iwuw 1111d (."/,ifd. 18c, I I lalr-p!a1c amhrol\·pe \,·ith hand-roloring- 1 :..?-:\ x �I· 1 rm (.1;1,x:rv, in.) .11'1"1 8.j.Xl'+li· '" 8 APERTURE/EXPOSURE/SHUTTER Alma l.avc11so11 (America11. 18!17-1989). Sl'/fl'ortmit. 19�"· Cclatin siln.·r print. 20.3x 25.2 cm (8x9 1V11> in.).JPCM, 8;,.xM.28:-\·5· APERTURE Exposure refers LO Lhe quantily or lighL Lhal falls on a negative /EXPOSURE material. In a camera, exposure is governed by the length or time /SHUTTER Lhe negative receives light and the size or the opening (apenure) through which the light passes. Exposure length is determined by Lhe speed with which the shutter opens and doses, allowing light LO pass through the aperture. The speed can be varied, as can the diamete1· or the aperture. It is the coordination or these two factors that determines optimum exposure, as both imervene between the film material and Lhc natural or anilicial light illumi­ nating the sul�ject.