Product Description

The Printed Picture traces the changing technology of picture-making from the Renaissance to the present, focusing on the vital role of images in multiple copies. The book surveys printing techniques before the invention of photography; the photographic processes that began to appear in the early nineteenth century; the marriage of printing and photography; and the rapidly evolving digital inventions of our time. From woodblocks to chromolithographs, from engravings to bar codes, from daguerreotypes to contemporary color photographs, the book succinctly examines the full range of pictorial processes. Exploring how pictures look by describing how they are made, author Richard Benson reaches fascinating and original conclusions about what pictures can mean.
Although many of the techniques he discusses have been used to create exceptional works of art, Benson concentrates on the typical, everyday pictures that have played and continue to play such a prominent role in our lives. In conjunction with the publication of the book, an educational installation of this material will be presented in the photography galleries at The Museum of Modern Art, New York in the fall of 2008.
Presented as a series of one-page essays opposite the pictures they examine, the book retains the lively, engaging style of the informal lectures through which Benson developed his ideas over the course of 30 years at Yale University. Rooted in hands-on descriptions of practical techniques, The Printed Picture offers a rich and imaginative interpretation of the enormous cultural and social influence of multiple images.
Richard Benson is a MacArthur Fellow and the former Dean of the Yale School of Art. A photographer, printer and collector, he has devoted a considerable part of his career to research in photomechanical reproduction. As a printer Benson was instrumental in developing the technologies presently used in the industry to reproduce photographs in ink. He has taught many workshops and given many lectures on photography, printing and their associated technologies. He is the co-author of Lay This Laurel (Eakins Press) with Lincoln Kirstein and A Maritime Album (The Mariner's Museum of Newport News, Virginia) with John Szarkowski. His photographic work is in the collections of The Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, The Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven and many other institutions and private collections.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #54992 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 338 pages

Review
Benson has brought a lifelong love of printing to this stunning book. --Printing World, November 2008

Those without the good fortune to attend [Benson's] classes at Yale, where he was a legendary art teachers for 30 years, can have the next best thing, this soon-to-be-classic book. --Richard B. Woodward, The Wall Street Journal, December 12, 2008

Customer Reviews

The Art of Printing
The Printed Picture "traces the changing technology of picture-making from the Renaissance to the present" - an understatement if there ever was one. The book is laid out in a very accessible "page-spread" format, with an example of each process faced by a written explanation. Some of the examples are mundane but charming, some of them are stunning. The production standards are superb, and quite up to the job of accurately representing the diverse originals. What really distinguishes this book, though, is the erudition of its author. Richard Benson is obviously an expert, but he is also that rarest of teachers, the kind whose enthusiasm for his subject drives him seek ever greater clarity in his explanations. Benson's writing is simple and friendly and full of profound insights that take a while to sink in. For example, he notes that there are two ways to make a color photograph: you can use a monochromatic image as a skeleton and paint the color on top, or you can combine primary colors and create the appearance of neutral values where there is only color present. A simple statement, but critical to understanding modern process printing.

I bought this book on a whim, having a coupon to spend, and I must say it was one of my best three whims ever. If you are an artist, or a photographer, or a print collector, or a bibliophile or just a curious reader, treat yourself. The Printed Picture is a gem.

Just picture it
The Printed Picture may become the standard reference for anyone interested in the history of image creation either as a single copy or in millions. Richard Benson (I'm not related) is to be congratulated in writing about a quite technical subject in a very lucid and accessible way.

The Product Description above will give you an idea about the book's scope. One of the fascinating insights that will intrigue you is that color printing is easier to do than printing in black. This interested me because I buy a lot of black and white photo art books and the problem is that one pass of black printing really can't realistically reproduce all the tonal values of a photo. The solution is to use black and one other ink, usually a grey to capture the lighter areas in a photo. The several hundred illustrations throughout the book show the continuing attempts, over the decades, to reproduce images as faithfully as possible and in multiple copies.

The book is bang up to date with comprehensive sections on color copiers, inkjet printing and scanner technology. The section on Indigo printing might be the way of the future because the technology allows a limited number of copies to be printed and in good quality, too.

I think it is worth mentioning, as another reviewer has, the quality of the writing. It is based on Benson's lectures, over the years, at Yale University and comes across in an easy conversational style that is a joy to read. As well as the writing he also designed the book. It is, as you would expect, beautifully printed on matt art stock with a 250+ screen.

If you work in graphic arts or are just image curious The Printed Picture will explain the background to something that is a big part of everyday life.

***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.

A core addition to Art, Photography, and Technological History reference collections
The technological evolution of distributing identical copies of a single picture has dramatically impacted upon and made practical the phenomena of mass culture. Author Richard Benson presents an informed and informative perspective and presentation of just how far the photographic printing processes have come. Beginning with the early years of relief printing which includes woodcuts, and moveable metal type, to today's digital processes. "The Printed Picture" aptly guides the reader through these subsequent and evolving processes while discussing the significance and roles each individual process has played. In this textbook each photograph is presented with a history of its impact on the processes of the time, as well as the importance of it role into the developing further techniques and processes. Displayed with an style that simplifies a complex process, the information of processes and effects is presented factually and with a sense of humor, "The Printed Picture" is especially recommended for university classroom use. All personal, professional, academic, and community libraries would find "The Printed Picture" to be a core addition to their Art, Photography, and Technological History reference collections.