Expressive Dimensions of Photographic Paper
July 12, 2016
Speaker
Paul Messier, Head, Lens Media Lab, Institute for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage, Yale University
Video
View video (57 minutes)
About the Lecture:
Visualizing the physical characteristics of prints across collections.
Texture, gloss, color, and sheet thickness—the defining characteristics of photographic paper—meaningfully contribute to the visual impact of a photograph. Each of these dimensions were routinely communicated in marketing materials and, for the working darkroom photographer, marked directly on paper packages. Experienced photographers gained fluency manipulating these dimensions, encoding in their prints meaning and intention. Measured and contextualized, these features form the basis of a new approach to understand and interpret prints. Past and ongoing projects demonstrate how these data, aggregated and shared across collections, can address vital scholarly questions of attribution, working practices, stylistic development, and spheres of artistic influence.
Related Resources
2014 Topics in Preservation Series lecture: Hermitage Photograph Conservation Initiative: A Model for Cross-Institutional Collaboration
2013 Topics in Preservation Series lecture: The Photographs of F. Holland Day: Developing a Materials-Based Catalogue Raisonné
2010 Topics in Preservation Series lecture: Development and Research Applications for a Reference Collection of 20th Century Photographic Paper
