astra velum - fritz liedtke fine art · was left on her skin were her freckles, and no amount of...
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Astra Velumhand-printed photogravures
Fritz Liedtkewww.fritzliedtke.com
April,afreckledwomanwhomIphotographedforthisseries,toldmeastoryfromherchildhood.Onedayafterplayingoutside,hergrandmotheraskedhertogowashup.Shewenttothebathroomanddidso,but
grandmawasn’tsatisfied.“Yourfaceisn’tclean!Goscrubitsomemore!”Theyounggirlwasdistraught,forallthatwasleftonherskinwereherfreckles,andnoamountofscrubbingwouldmakethemgoaway. Whilemanypeopleviewfrecklesasanaberrationorblemish,myresponseistheopposite.Ifindthemenchant-ing,unique,evenexotic.Morethanonce,whilephotographingforthisseries,amodelthankedmeformakingsomethingbeautifuloutofwhattheyoftenviewedasaflaw. Thisseriesishand-printedbymyselfasalimitededitionsetofphotogravures.I’veusedphotogravureforthisseriesforseveralreasons. Inthedigitalage,Ifeelmoreandmoredistantfromthehandmadequalityofphotography—themanuallaborofdevelopingfilmanddodgingandburningprints.Butevendarkroomwork—whichIneverparticularlyenjoyedinandofitself—createdaproductthatwasmadebyhand,butshowednoevidenceofit.ForthisreasonI’mdrawntoprocessesliketintype,encaustic,andphotogravure,whichshowclearevidenceoftheartist’sinvolvementwiththefinalproduct. Untilnow,I’venotbeenaprocessperson;I’drathershootandedit,andthenhaveaprintmagicallyappear(which,ofcourse,isthedrawofinkjetprinting).ButI’vefoundarealpleasureintheprocessofprintingphotogravure.Whileit’sthemostcomplicatedprintingprocessI’veeverpursued,itdoeshaveitsadvantages.Ienjoythecraftinessofit—cuttingouthandmadepaperforthechin-collé,inkingandwipingtheplatejustso,thesteadyrhythmofturningthecrankonthepress,pullingtheprintofftheplateandcatchingmybreath,stunnedbyitsbeauty.Iliketheroundedcornersoftheplate,theindentationoftheplateinthepaper,thetracesofunwipedinkatitsedges,theoccasionalfingerprint.Likefreckles,thesearenotflaws,butbeautymarks. Photogravurealsooffersafinalproductimitatedbutnotreproducedbyanyotherphotographicprintingmedium:chin-collé.Thismethodofimpressingasecondpaper(ahandmadeJapanesepaper)inbetweentheinkandtheback-ingpaperisatraditionaltechniqueinprintmaking.Itallowsmetocreateauniqueprint,withglowingwarmhighvalues(fromthewarmJapanesepaper),placedagainstthewhiteofthebackingpaper.Theresultisahand-madeprintwhosedepthandluminescenceisunmatchedbyanyotherphotographicprint-makingprocess.AsMelanieMcWhorterofPhoto-Eyewrites,“Theselovely,luminscent,one-of-a-kindprintsreallymustbeseentobeappreciated.” I’malsodrawntothetactilenatureofaphotogravure.Thepapersusedareoftenhandmade,withatexturemeanttobefeltwithyourfingertips.Theinkembeddedinthepaperalsogivestexturetotheimageitself.Forthesereasons,handmadephotogravuresseemedtheperfectmediumforaserieswhich,atitsessence,exploresthebeautyofsurfacetextures:humanskinanditsfrecklesandscars,likeathinveilofstars. Thislimited-editionseriesisavailableforshow,publication,andpurchase.Aportfolioof12prints,withcoverpage,isboundinacustombox,andofferedinaneditionof12.Aneducationaldiscountisoffered.Asetoflimitededi-tionindividualprintsisalsoavailable.Pleaseinquireformoreinformation:[email protected].
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The Astra Velum PortfolioFritz Liedtke
www.fritzliedtke.com
Thelimited-editionAstra Velum Portfolioisasetof12handmadephotogravures,housedinacustomarchi-valclamshellbox,withatitlepage/colophon.Theportfolioislimtedtoaneditionof12.Pricingbeginsat$5500.A10%discountisofferedtoeducationalcollections.
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Printing Astra VelumAlongwithmyinterestinotheralternativeprocesses,I’vebeenintriguedbyphotogravureformanyyears,sinceIfirstlearnedofitstudyingprint-makingincollege.Severalyearsago,IspokewithmasterphotogravuristRussellDoddabouthiswork,whichinspiredmetolearnthisbeautiful--butcomplicated--historicalprocess.Theresult:thisnewportfolioofphotogravureprints,AstraVellum.
AstraVellumisaseriesofhauntingportraitsofwomenwithfreckles.Textureisanintegralpartofphotogravure--boththelovelytextureoftheimage,andthetextureofthefine-arthandmadepapersonwhichphotogra-vuresareprinted.Sincefrecklesandskinareallabouttexture,photogra-vurewasmymediumofchoiceforthisseries.
Theprocessofmakingphotogravuresisquitecomplex,withmanyoppor-tunitiesforerror.Beginningwithastrongimage,thedigitalfileispre-paredforprintingbyapplyinganappropriateadjustmentcurveandprint-ingcolorinPhotoshop.Thepositiveimagefileisthenprintedonaclearfilmmedium,suchasPictorico.
Makingtheprintingplateconsistsofseveralsteps,inwhichthepositiveimageisexposedtothelight-sensitiveplateviaanUV-lightexposureunit.Itisthen‘developed’andthedarkerareasoftheimagearewashedout,engravingtheplate.Oncetheplateishardened,itisreadyforprinting.
Printinganintaglioplateinvolvesinkingandwipingtheplatewithinta-glioinks(composedofcarbon,mineralpigments,andlinseedoil).Theplateissetface-uponthepressbed,andisreadyforpaper.
Paperselectionisveryimportantinprintmaking.ForAstraVellum,Ichose2paperstoworkwith.Thefirst,RivesBFK,istheclassicstandardinprintmaking.Itisathickcottonpaper,mold-made,withdecklededges.ThesecondpaperI’veusedisahandmadeJapanesepapercalledKitikata.IusetheKitikatatocreateachin-colle(‘Chinesecollage’),aprocessinphotographyuniquetophotogravure.Thechin-collepapermustbecuttofitthesizeoftheprintingplate.Onceitiscut,itissprayedwithwater,andthebacksideofthepaperissprinkledwithwheatstarch.Thenthepaperisplacedface-down(thenon-wheat-starchside)ontheplate.Overtopofthechin-collepaperandplate,thebackingpaper(RivesBFK,alsomoistened)isplaced.Thus,astheplateandpapersarerunthroughthepress,theinkfromtheplateprintsontheKitikata,whichissimultaneuslyembossedintoandgluedtotheRives.
Inthisway,Icreateauniqueprint,withglowingwarmhighvalues(fromtheKitikata),placedagainstthewhiteoftheRivespaper.Theresultisahand-madeprintwhosedepthandbeautyisunmatchedbyanyotherpho-tographicprint-makingprocess.
Inkedplatesonthepressbed.
Inkingtheplate.
Preparingthechin-collepaper.
Platesandpaperassembledandreadytopress.
Theuniqueresult.
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A Photogravure PrimerPhotogravureisanintaglioprintmakingprocesswherebyanetchedplateisinkedandprintedonpaper,resultinginahighqualityintaglioprintthatcanreproducethedetailandcontinuoustonesofaphotograph.
Theearliestformsofphotogravureweredevelopedinthe1830sbytheoriginalpioneersofphotographyitself,HenryFoxTalbotinEnglandandNicéphoreNiépceinFrance.Theywereseekingameanstomakeprintsthatwouldnotfade,bycreatingphotographicimagesonplatesthatcouldthenbeetched.Theetchedplatescouldthenbeprintedusingatraditionalprint-ingpress.Theseearlyimageswereamongthefirstphotographs,pre-datingdaguerreotypesandthelaterwet-collodionphotographicprocesses.FoxTalbotworkedonextendingtheprocessinthe1850sandpatenteditin1852(‘photographicengraving’)and1858(‘photoglyphicengraving’).Photogra-vureinitsmatureformwasdevelopedin1878byCzechpainterKarelKlíč,whobuiltonTalbot’sresearch.
Photogravureregistersawidevarietyoftones,throughthetransferofetchinginkfromanetchedplatetospecialdampenedpaperrunthroughanetchingpress.Theuniquetonalrangecomesfromphotogravure’svariabledepthofetch,thatis,theshadowsareetchedmanytimesdeeperthanthehighlights.Unlikehalf-toneprocesseswhichmerelyvarythesizeofdots,theactualquantityanddepthofinkwellsarevariedinaphotogravureplateandareoftenblendedintoasmoothtonebytheprintingprocess.
PhotogravurepractitionerssuchasPeterHenryEmersonandothersbroughtthearttoahighstandardinthelate19thcentury.ThiscontinuedwiththeworkofAlfredStieglitzintheearly20thcentury,especiallyinrelationtohispublicationCameraWork(whosephotogravuresweremass-printedbymachine).ThispublicationalsofeaturedthephotogravuresofAlvinLang-donCoburnwhowasafinegravureprinterandenvisionedhisphotographicworkasgravuresratherthanotherphoto-basedprocesses.
Thespeedandconvenienceofsilver-gelatinphotographyeventuallydis-placedphotogravure,whichfellintodisuseaftertheEdwardS.Curtisgra-vuresinthe1920s.OneofthelastmajorportfoliosoffineartphotogravureswasPaulStrand’sPhotographsfromMexicofrom1940,reissuedasTheMexicanPortfolioin1967byDeCapoPress.Photogravureisnowactivelypracticedinonlyseveraldozenworkshopsaroundtheworld.
ViewmoreofAstra Velum,atwww.fritzliedtke.com.
WilliamHenryFoxTalbot,Dandelion Seeds.1840.Photogravure.
Illustrationofinkingandprintingaplate,showinghowinkfillsdeeperholestocreatedarkervalues.
Strand,Paul,TheMexicanPortfolio,19335x6.25in,Photogravure