Looking at Photographs: A Guide to Technical Terms [Paperback]

Gordon Baldwin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 10, 1991 | ISBN-10: 0892361921 | ISBN-13: 978-0892361922

This reference guide contains an informative history of photography, with explanations of the technical terms often encountered by gallery patrons and those taking an interest in the background to photographic excellence for the first time. What is a contact print? What is a pinhole camera? What is the difference between a daguerreotype and a tintype, or between a gelatin silver print and a halftone? This work offers definitions and explanations of the techniques, processes and materials used in the making of photographs from the 1830s to the present. Its illustrations are mostly taken from the holdings of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Handsomely printed and designed, beautifully illustrated...a useful reference tool."--Visual Resources

"This volume would be useful on the shelves of any library, archive, or museum in need of photographic information."--American Reference Books Annual 1992

About the Author

Gordon Baldwin, formerly associate curator in the Department of Photographs at the J. Paul Getty Museum, is now an independent scholar who continues to write about and curate exhibitions of photographs. Martin Jürgens is a conservator of photographs in Hamburg, Germany.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 88 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (October 10, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892361921
• ISBN-13: 978-0892361922
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,116,528 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good but dated reference, May 14, 2003

By 

Thomas Emerson (Massachusetts, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Looking at Photographs: A Guide to Technical Terms (Paperback)

Baldwin's slim lexicon is an excellent addition to the library of anyone interested in the history of photography. The 122 headwords are well defined and are amply illustrated with color and monochrome images. The vocabulary covers photographic processes from the early 19th century through the early/middle of the 20th. The lack of terms from the 1940s to the present is the one significant flaw in this book.

Unlike some dictionaries, one can easily sit down and read this from cover to cover, flipping around for definitions as necessary (terms elsewhere defined are printed in small-caps). Synonymous entries are cross-referenced to the primary entry.

Coverage of digital photography is minimal, but given the time it was written (1991) this is understandable. Also missing are terms like Kodachrome or Ektachrome (though mentioned in the entry for "Chromogenic Print"). Other terms I had hoped to see included 'Colorama', 'Land', 'Polaroid' (though this is alluded to in the entry for 'Dye Diffusion Print'), Giclees/Iris Prints, Lightjet Prints, Image Transfer, Emulsion Transfer, SX-70 manipulation, and no doubt many others I'm not thinking of right now.

The typography, layout, and printing of the book is outstanding. Heavy glossy pages do the reproduced images justice. Examples are well chosen and represent a range of photographer's and genres.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential for Gallery and Museum Educators, February 9, 2007

By 

Marianne A. Wood (Abilene, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Looking at Photographs: A Guide to Technical Terms (Paperback)

I'd missed this book. It was in the library of the museum I worked for previously. Now that I serve as a curator of education in a non-profit gallery with an entire gallery dedicated to photography, a guidebook to photographic processes is essential. The book's beautiful layout and illustrations makes it a delight. Anyone interested in understanding historical or contemporary photography will benefit from this book.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A basic reference even for the pros, December 4, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Looking at Photographs: A Guide to Technical Terms (Paperback)

So you think you know it all? This slim, artfully produced, thorough glossary of terms is beautifully illustrated, has clear descriptions of all those mysterious processes on museum labels, including a few even you might not have known, and is as useful in a collector's library as in a contemporary practitioner's.