Photogravure in Atlanta

[Ken Wilkens]

Hi,

Just came across this website. My wife and I do copper plate photogravure in the Atlanta area. I have dabbled in photography for some time while my wife has been a printer for many years, so we decided to start doing photogravures. We have been making them for several years now and have a complete studio.

 

[MattKing]

Welcome to Photrio. As a near lifetime photography enthusiast, and for a while (many years ago) an offset printer and line camera operator, I'm impressed by anyone who works in photogravure.
I hope you enjoy your time here, and can enjoy contributing to the community.

 

[koraks]

Welcome to Photrio, @Ken Wilkens !

Ah, copper plate photogravure; the noble grandfather of photopolymer intaglio How do you make the plates; with a photopolymer or a gelatin matrix?

 

[CreationBear]

Excellent, are you printing for other photographers, or just in-house?

 

[Ken Wilkens]

Welcome to Photrio, @Ken Wilkens !

Ah, copper plate photogravure; the noble grandfather of photopolymer intaglio How do you make the plates; with a photopolymer or a gelatin matrix?

We use a gel matrix (dragon tissue) from cape fear. It was discontinued last July, so we will need to find a replacement when our supply runs out.

Currently we are doing our own work, but that may change soon when my wife retires this summer.

 

[koraks]

It was discontinued last July, so we will need to find a replacement when our supply runs out.

Ah, that's a pity. DIY perhaps? It's basically carbon transfer as I understood it when I read up on this. There are carbon transfer practitioners on this forum, and there's a good (albeit small) forum here as well: https://groups.io/g/carbon/topics

I've also considered (before I sold off my etching press) using photopolymer film on copper plate. It's fairly easy to process, but it requires a collimated light source due to it's thickness. I also found it challenging to deal with the brittle edges, which always took some ink and therefore made the edge of the plate very visible.

There's a photopolymer paste that is used for making printed circuit boards that might be used in this application as well. I did a writeup on how I use it for PCB's a few weeks ago; I think the same process should work in principle for copper plate gravure. PCB etching is copper etching anyway, wo the process is pretty much the same. What I don't know is how well the paste sticks to a polished plate instead of a sanded one as I use for PCB's.

Different kind of print – Making PCB’s at home – Koraks tinkers

tinker.koraks.nl

 

[Ken Wilkens]

I have not tried circuit board etching as of yet. I am not sure how well it would work as it is designed to etch or not etch, where for a photogravure I need something that will give midtones

 

[mshchem]

Very cool process. Gets rather involved,

 

[Ken Wilkens]

How did you initially get interested in this art form? I'd love to learn more about your journey, and the process behind creating photogravures.

I have been taking pictures for some time, my wife is an intaglio printmaker. When we got married she looked for a way to combine the two. We took a class on the process from Paul Taylor in 2017, Paul then came and helped us set up our studio

 

[technicolorsound]

Hey Ken, just came across your post. I’ve been looking for someone local to Atlanta who might be able to make a small photogravure edition. Is that something you might be interested in?

 

[Ken Wilkens]

Hey Ken, just came across your post. I’ve been looking for someone local to Atlanta who might be able to make a small photogravure edition. Is that something you might be interested in?

We would have to see what is involved. Take a look at our website for more information.
passerinapress.com

 

[technicolorsound]

We would have to see what is involved. Take a look at our website for more information.
passerinapress.com

Website looks amazing! Just gave you a follow on Instagram. I shoot mostly 4x5 landscape. I’ll shoot you a message on there or via your website so you have my contact info. We can circle back in the new year. Thanks!