Photomechanical Prints: History, Technology, Aesthetics, and Use

This online program provides access to talks that were presented during the in-person symposium that took place October 31-November 2, 2023, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC.

For roughly 150 years, people have been accustomed to seeing photomechanical prints on a daily basis. Prints exist in a variety of milieus with multiple variations over time, use, and geography. Historic and contemporary examples are prevalent in museums, libraries, archives, and personal collections worldwide. Photomechanical prints were developed to fill many needs including practical and economical methods for mass reproduction, techniques to facilitate the simultaneous printing of images and text, increased image permanence, a perception of increased truthfulness and objectivity, and an autonomous means of artistic expression. They exist at the intersections of numerous disciplines: photography and printmaking, functional and artistic practices, the histories of photography and the graphic arts, and the specialties of paper and photograph conservation.

The program will provide an opportunity for conservators, curators, historians, scientists, collections managers, catalogers, archivists, librarians, educators, printmakers, artists, and collectors to share and explore all aspects of photomechanical printing. The resulting advancement of our collective understanding of these ubiquitous but under-researched materials will allow for new interpretations and improved approaches to their collection, interpretation, preservation, treatment, and display.

Content available until January 1, 2025.


Funding for this program comes from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation fund for Collaborative Workshops in Photograph Conservation and the Foundation for Advancement in Conservation (FAIC) Endowment for Professional Development. FAIC relies on your contributions to support these and its many other programs. 

Learn more about donating to the foundation.

Photomechanical Prints Symposium Planning Committee 

  • Alisha Chipman, Photograph Conservator, Library of Congress 
  • Martin Jürgens, Conservator of Photographs, Rijksmuseum 
  • Shannon Perich, Curator, History of Photography Collection, National Museum of American History 
  • Rachel Mustalish, Paper Conservator, the Metropolitan Museum of Art 

Consulting Committee

  • Jon Goodman, Photogravure Master Printer
  • David Hanson, Historian & Collector
  • Erik Hougen, Master Printer/ Silkscreen Studio Director, Two Palms
  • Steven Joseph, Historian & Collector
  • Helena Wright, Curator Emeritus, Graphic Arts Collection, National Museum of American History

Key:

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Introduction (Chipman)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
The Presence and Absences of Photomechanical Prints (Belknap)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Illustration, Race, and Photomechanical Imagery (Phillips-Pendleton)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
The Photomechanical Print as Facsimile in the Early 20th Century (Capua)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
The Converted Daguerreotype: A proto-photomechanical printmaking process (Jürgens)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Glass and the Pattern of Photomechanical Printing (Wilder)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Girard and Disdéri: At the birth of the half-tone screen (Joseph, Hanson)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Connecting the Dots: Understanding the photographic halftone (Levy)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Printing Revolution in the Shape of a Picture Postcard: The Iranian postcard publisher, Abdul Rahim Kashani, and his impact on the constitutional revolution (Schwerda)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
A Marvellous Echo: Photomechanical prints at the University of Melbourne (Brown)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Digital Koehler: Activating a landmark 1892 exhibition collection (Melvin, Manick)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Collecting and the Market for Photomechanical Prints: A panel discussion
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Never Fade Away: Ernest Edwards and the permanent photograph (Melby)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Characterization of Collotypes (McGlinchey Sexton, Koseki)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
The “Jacomet Process”: An artful combination of collotype and pochoir (Mosier, Daffner)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
The Woodburytype (Oliver)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Ansel Adams: A reproductive aesthetic for photography (Hammond)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
The Photograph, the Book, and the Bird-Lover: Producing, circulating, and viewing ornithological photography (McManus)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Practical Hands: WHF Talbot’s photographic engraving process through the eyes of the printer George Barclay (Strobino)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Obscure Marvels: Early photogravures and their photo-historical fate (Addleman-Frankel)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
The Intermedial Print: Rotogravure, film, and the reshaping of the female face (Beegan)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Photogravure: Backward into the future (Goodman)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Direct Gravure: A creative variant – materials, research, and art (Zammiello)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
A Close Consideration of Five Works by Six Artists Wherein the Choice to Emphasize the Prosaic Aspects of Mechanical Processes Produces Poetic Artwork (MacCallum)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
History, Methods, and Contemporary Examples of Photomechanical Screenprinting (Hougen)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Picturing the Book in Three Dimensions: William Griggs' embossed photo-chromolithographic illustrations of bookbindings (Aikenhead)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
Archive of Light: Psychedelia’s Dancing Lithographs (Barton)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.
New Methods and Materials for Photomechanical Printing in the 21st Century (Parraman)
Open to view video.
Open to view video.