Share article:
Share article:

The Inkjet Print as Objet D'Art
Artist orTechnician?
In an essay byJohn Szarkowski, the previous curator of photography at New York'sMuseum of Modern Art, he comments that during the first century of photography's existence (possibly 'till the mid 1950s) it was understood primarily through original photographic prints. Only since the second half of the 20th century have professional photographers come to assume that they would make their livings by people seeing their work in reproduction rather than through original prints.
As Szarkowski points out, this is a much easier and more profitable system. Make one print, deliver it to the photoengraver, and pretty soon millions of copies were in people's hands through magazines, newspapers and books. In fact, hasn't it been every photographer's dream to shoot forNational Geographic? No original prints here, just 6 million reproductions inside a yellow bordered cover.
But with this approach the photographer is no longer a sole practitioner. ...

Read this story and all the best stories on The Luminous Landscape

The author has made this story available to Luminous Landscape members only. Upgrade to get instant access to this story and other benefits available only to members.

Why choose us?

Luminous-Landscape is a membership site. Our website contains over 5300 articles on almost every topic, camera, lens and printer you can imagine. Our membership model is simple, a Dollar-a-Month ($12.00 USD a year). This $12 gains you access to a wealth of information including all our past and future video tutorials on such topics as Lightroom, Capture One, Printing, file management and dozens of interviews and travel videos.

  • New Articles every few days
  • All original content found nowhere else on the web
  • No Pop Up Google Sense ads – Our advertisers are photo related
  • Download/stream video to any device
  • NEW videos monthly
  • Top well-known photographer contributors
  • Posts from industry leaders
  • Speciality Photography Workshops
  • Mobile device scalable
  • Exclusive video interviews
  • Special vendor offers for members
  • Hands On Product reviews
  • FREE – User Forum. One of the most read user forums on the internet
  • Access to our community Buy and Sell pages; for members only.
Share article:
Michael Reichmann is the founder of the Luminous Landscape. Michael passed away in May 2016. Since its inception in 1999 LuLa has become the world's largest site devoted to the art, craft, and technology of photography. Each month more than one million people from every country on the globe visit LuLa.
See all articles by this author

You may also like

Leica SL3-S
Camera & Technology

Leica SL3-S: A Thoughtful Evolution in Leica's Mirrorless Journey

Explore Leica's latest masterpiece - the SL3-S mirrorless camera. Discover how this 24MP hybrid powerhouse combines professional video capabilities with classic Leica image quality.
Jon Swindall

Jon Swindall

·

January 16, 2025

·

7 minutes read


Þórsmörk, Krossá Valley and Central Highlands, Iceland
Techniques

Finding the Sweet Spot in Photography - Part 2

The Plot Twist: Small Sensors, Big Impact
Terry McDonald

Terry McDonald

·

January 16, 2025

·

8 minutes read