Gustave Le Gray’s salted paper prints
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Book Chapter |
| Language: | English Slovak |
| ISBN: | ISBN 1-84407-253-3 |
| Online Access: | http://www.viks.sk/chk/14tmh_25.doc |
| Abstract: | SUMMARIES. A project to research image tonality in Gustave Le Gray’s salted paper prints was supported by the Getty Conservation Institute and undertaken at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. The project included comparison of techniques described in publications by Le Gray and his contemporaries within and outside France, creation and accelerated ageing of experimental samples based on his methods, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry elemental analysis and spectrophotometric image colour characterization of Le Gray’s prints. This paper focuses on the study of Le Gray’s techniques through the historical literature and the characterization of the original prints, with some references to other aspects of the project. CONCLUSIONS. Unraveling the mysteries of nineteenth century photographic image colours is an immense task. With this study we are closer to understanding the breadth of Gustave Le Gray’s aesthetic contribution to the history of photography. Without destructive analysis it is impossible to determine the degree to which each image retains its originally intended tonality. It is clear, however, that Le Gray promoted processing techniques to achieve image colours we would now perceive as typical of deteriorated silver images. Le Gray stands apart, not only for his unusual methods, but for the intensity of his belief in control and use of image colour toward aesthetic perfection. |
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| ISBN: | ISBN 1-84407-253-3 |
