Preliminary photographs and improved positives: discovering the New York Public Library’s Arctic Exploration album
Abstract In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, original photographs were sent to publishers so that they could be reproduced in print. The photographs often needed to be reworked with overpainting and masking, and such modifications were especially necessary for low-contrast photographs to be r...
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2021
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00506-3 https://doaj.org/article/2adf6a0725544949b9436760b43ed31f |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:oai:doaj.org/article:2adf6a0725544949b9436760b43ed31f 2023-05-15T14:56:40+02:00 Preliminary photographs and improved positives: discovering the New York Public Library’s Arctic Exploration album Elena Basso Federica Pozzi Jessica Keister Elizabeth Cronin 2021-03-01 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00506-3 https://doaj.org/article/2adf6a0725544949b9436760b43ed31f en eng SpringerOpen doi:10.1186/s40494-021-00506-3 2050-7445 https://doaj.org/article/2adf6a0725544949b9436760b43ed31f undefined Heritage Science, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2021) Expeditionary photography Photographs Arctic expeditions Late 19th and early 20th centuries Silver‐gelatin paper Silver halides art info Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2021 fttriple https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00506-3 2023-01-22T19:14:16Z Abstract In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, original photographs were sent to publishers so that they could be reproduced in print. The photographs often needed to be reworked with overpainting and masking, and such modifications were especially necessary for low-contrast photographs to be reproduced as a letterpress halftone. As altered objects, many of these marked-up photographs were simply discarded after use. An album at The New York Public Library, however, contains 157 such photographs, all relating to the Jackson–Harmsworth expedition to Franz Josef Land, from 1894 to 1897. Received as gifts from publishers, the photographs are heavily retouched with overpainting and masking, as well as drawn and collaged elements. The intense level of overpainting on many of the photographs, but not on others, raised questions about their production and alteration. Jackson’s accounts attested to his practice of developing and printing photographs on site, testing different materials and techniques—including platino-bromide and silver-gelatin papers—to overcome the harsh environmental conditions. In this context, sixteen photographs from the album were analyzed through a combination of non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques, including X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), Raman and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies, and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). This analytical campaign aimed to evaluate the possible residual presence of silver halides in any of the preliminary and improved photographs. The detection of these compounds would be one of several factors supporting a hypothesis that some of the photographs in the album were indeed printed on site, in the Arctic, and, as a result, may have been impacted by the extreme environment. Additional goals of the study included the evaluation of the extent of retouching, providing a full characterization of the pigments and dyes used in overpainted prints, ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Franz Josef Land Unknown Arctic Fors ENVELOPE(20.500,20.500,65.700,65.700) Franz Josef Land ENVELOPE(55.000,55.000,81.000,81.000) Harmsworth ENVELOPE(160.933,160.933,-78.683,-78.683) Heritage Science 9 1 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Unknown |
op_collection_id |
fttriple |
language |
English |
topic |
Expeditionary photography Photographs Arctic expeditions Late 19th and early 20th centuries Silver‐gelatin paper Silver halides art info |
spellingShingle |
Expeditionary photography Photographs Arctic expeditions Late 19th and early 20th centuries Silver‐gelatin paper Silver halides art info Elena Basso Federica Pozzi Jessica Keister Elizabeth Cronin Preliminary photographs and improved positives: discovering the New York Public Library’s Arctic Exploration album |
topic_facet |
Expeditionary photography Photographs Arctic expeditions Late 19th and early 20th centuries Silver‐gelatin paper Silver halides art info |
description |
Abstract In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, original photographs were sent to publishers so that they could be reproduced in print. The photographs often needed to be reworked with overpainting and masking, and such modifications were especially necessary for low-contrast photographs to be reproduced as a letterpress halftone. As altered objects, many of these marked-up photographs were simply discarded after use. An album at The New York Public Library, however, contains 157 such photographs, all relating to the Jackson–Harmsworth expedition to Franz Josef Land, from 1894 to 1897. Received as gifts from publishers, the photographs are heavily retouched with overpainting and masking, as well as drawn and collaged elements. The intense level of overpainting on many of the photographs, but not on others, raised questions about their production and alteration. Jackson’s accounts attested to his practice of developing and printing photographs on site, testing different materials and techniques—including platino-bromide and silver-gelatin papers—to overcome the harsh environmental conditions. In this context, sixteen photographs from the album were analyzed through a combination of non-invasive and micro-invasive techniques, including X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, fiber optics reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), Raman and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopies, and scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). This analytical campaign aimed to evaluate the possible residual presence of silver halides in any of the preliminary and improved photographs. The detection of these compounds would be one of several factors supporting a hypothesis that some of the photographs in the album were indeed printed on site, in the Arctic, and, as a result, may have been impacted by the extreme environment. Additional goals of the study included the evaluation of the extent of retouching, providing a full characterization of the pigments and dyes used in overpainted prints, ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Elena Basso Federica Pozzi Jessica Keister Elizabeth Cronin |
author_facet |
Elena Basso Federica Pozzi Jessica Keister Elizabeth Cronin |
author_sort |
Elena Basso |
title |
Preliminary photographs and improved positives: discovering the New York Public Library’s Arctic Exploration album |
title_short |
Preliminary photographs and improved positives: discovering the New York Public Library’s Arctic Exploration album |
title_full |
Preliminary photographs and improved positives: discovering the New York Public Library’s Arctic Exploration album |
title_fullStr |
Preliminary photographs and improved positives: discovering the New York Public Library’s Arctic Exploration album |
title_full_unstemmed |
Preliminary photographs and improved positives: discovering the New York Public Library’s Arctic Exploration album |
title_sort |
preliminary photographs and improved positives: discovering the new york public library’s arctic exploration album |
publisher |
SpringerOpen |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00506-3 https://doaj.org/article/2adf6a0725544949b9436760b43ed31f |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(20.500,20.500,65.700,65.700) ENVELOPE(55.000,55.000,81.000,81.000) ENVELOPE(160.933,160.933,-78.683,-78.683) |
geographic |
Arctic Fors Franz Josef Land Harmsworth |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Fors Franz Josef Land Harmsworth |
genre |
Arctic Franz Josef Land |
genre_facet |
Arctic Franz Josef Land |
op_source |
Heritage Science, Vol 9, Iss 1, Pp 1-14 (2021) |
op_relation |
doi:10.1186/s40494-021-00506-3 2050-7445 https://doaj.org/article/2adf6a0725544949b9436760b43ed31f |
op_rights |
undefined |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40494-021-00506-3 |
container_title |
Heritage Science |
container_volume |
9 |
container_issue |
1 |
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1766328749499875328 |