In 1897, the American photographer and adventurer William Henry Jackson, after having spent three decades documenting the development of the North American frontier, sold his archive of photographic negatives, to the Detroit Photographic Company, which he also joined as a partner. The Detroit firm had recently licensed Photochrom, a secret Swiss process for turning black-and-white photographs into colour. Completely distinct from today's four colour halftone-screen reproduction, Photochrom involved the use of a dozen or more asphalt-coated lithographic stones; it was a labour intensive process whose results could be superior to original colour prints using modern materials. W.H. Jackson devoted his next, and last, five years of active photography to Photochrom. He travelled the length and breadth of North America, often in a specially equipped railroad car, in search of images that might tell the story of the end of one epoch and the dawning of another. The chromolithographs in this volume were selected from a previously undiscovered cache of uncirculated views. There is an accompanying text by Jim Hughes.
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One of America's most notable early photographers, Jackson (1843-1942) counts among his many credits dramatic photographs of Yellowstone that helped convince Congress to purchase it as the first U.S. national park. Unknown to historians was this cache of undistributed chromolithographs, the result of Jackson's collaboration with the Detroit Photographic Company. His black-and-white negatives, featuring urban, rural, and wilderness scenes taken throughout the United States and in parts of Canada, underwent a time-consuming process called Photochrom that resulted in richly colored images. All the images have an idealized "postcard" quality, and many were in fact commissioned by railroads and resorts. Compared with the stark black-and-white Western scenes for which Jackson is known, this genre is appealing but quite different indeed. Hughes outlines Jackson's lengthy career and the Photochrom technique in an introductory essay. Aimed at a popular audience, this heavily illustrated volume will also appeal to those interested in photographia.
Kathleen Eagen Johnson, Historic Hudson Valley, Tarrytown, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Kathleen Eagen Johnson, Historic Hudson Valley, Tarrytown, N.Y.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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This review is from: The Birth of a Century: Early Color Photographs of America (Hardcover)
Great record of an important period in 1900 era photography. If you are a collector of old view post cards this is essential reading.
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