T. J. Hileman photo

[Randyb53]

Hello, just joined the group to seek some info on a photograph or print I purchased.....if this is off limits on the forum I apologize.....I bought a 19x12 framed photograph by TJ Hileman of Ice Berg Lake in Glacier Park... It is black and white but has hints of blue in the clouds and also on trees. It is named and numbered on the back and has a embossed copyright seal on the lower left corner.

My question is the hints of color intentional or is it the effects of time on the papers composition? It's a beautiful piece. I am not sure if it is a photograph or technically a print.... I am ignorant in regards to vintage photography...thanks

 

[koraks]

Welcome to Photrio @Randyb53!

Is there any possibility of posting a photo that illustrates the hints of blue that you describe? Do these areas exhibit a kind of metallic sheen when held at an angle to the light?

 

[Don_ih]

has hints of blue in the clouds and also on trees

It used to be common to dress up photos with some colour. If your photo is about 100 years old, it could have had colour added to the sky and trees and ground - somewhat subtly - and the majority of that colour has likely faded since then.

 

[Randyb53]

Here is a pic

 

[Randyb53]

Another

 

[Randyb53]

Back

 

[koraks]

Yeah, I'm with @Don_ih - this is probably hand-colored with dyes. Apparently the dyes have started to migrate around probably due to adverse storage conditions (high humidity). There would have been more color to it in the past, but the dyes have faded for the most part, it seems.

 

[Don_ih]

I don't think it's a silver gelatin print. I think it's a photogravure.

 

[Randyb53]

That was going to be my next question.....is it a silver gelatin?

 

[MattKing]

Is it a single piece of paper, or something made up of what appears to be at least a two layer construct?
I ask because the texture of the back doesn't look to be like most silver gelatin photographic papers - even the ones with textured surfaces.
Even if it isn't strictly photogravure, it might very well be an ink-based reproduction image.

 

[pentaxuser]

I wonder what the point of the blue was? Yes it look very haphazard now, possibly due to the reasons mentioned but it doesn't seem to be sort of picture in which blue would have helped

As it seems to be concentrated around the trees might it have been green which has changed to a blueish look and spread to where it was never meant to be ?

pentaxuser

 

[koraks]

I wonder what the point of the blue was?

It likely wasn't blue, but apparently the blue dye was the one that held out the longest. The others have faded and shifted, I think. The blue may very well have been green, with the yellow dye having disappeared since.

 

[mshchem]

T. J. Hileman - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Don_ih]

This photo:

found here, has the same dimensions as the one posted in this thread, but is obviously in much better condition. There are a number of examples of his hand-tinted photos when you search online. Maybe these are silver gelatin prints, maybe they're mechanical reproductions - can't tell without examining it closely. But the following photo:

Is claimed to be a hand-coloured litho found in a booklet of 12 such photos (see here). This is much smaller than the one posted in this thread, though.

The colour survived much better in a closed booklet.

 

[Don_ih]

Somewhat interesting to note is that the photo found here is the same Ice Berg Lake photo but not tinted and also inverted.