The photo-intaglio process
Over the last few years I have been exploring intaglio printmaking using light-sensitive polymer plates, a modern variation on the traditional photogravure process. With this modern method, a matrix of tiny indentations is created on a polymer plate. The plate is then inked, the plate surface wiped and with a sheet of paper, run through an etching press under pressure. The ink—which is still held in the indentations—is transferred from the plate to paper, creating the image. Depending on the particular method used, the darker areas of the image are created where the indentations are either deeper or closer together and the lighter tones created where they are shallower or farther apart.
This method of printmaking goes by different names: photopolymer etching, photo-etching, and photo-intaglio. Some people call it photogravure* but I like to reserve this name for the process dating from the 1800s that was used during the early era of photography by Alfred Stieglitz, Paul Strand, Edward Curtis and others.
Though not as exacting or detailed as photogravure, the modern process has it own beauty and aesthetic. I am draw to this way of creating images, not only because of this aesthetic, but because of the hands-on aspect of printmaking: I enjoy working directly with inks, paper, plates and press. There are also historic aspects that I'm drawn to. One is the idea of working with a process of image-making that despite its beauty, has been largely replaced by faster, more mechanical methods of reproducing images. The other is personal: my father was a lithographer and off-set printer who had a small print shop in San Francisco. I often spent time at his shop when I was growing up—sometimes playing, sometimes helping out. Creating intaglio images makes me feel connected to my father in a way that is both direct and powerful, yet not easily defined.
I am very much "in process" with these images, still doing my apprenticeship in learning the materials and processes involved. I hope you enjoy what I've done to date.
* The first three photo-intaglio images were made using the modern method; the last two were made during a workshop taught by Jon Goodman using the traditional photogravure process.
fern study - three variations. two-plate photo-intaglio print