Photomechanical prints are rarely considered objects of their own. They tend to be confined to the role of invisible intermediaries that provide access to various types of photographic images, whether artistic or informational. Previous research on the history of photomechanical printing technologies has revealed how crucial these inventions were in establishing photography as the main means of visual communication in the 20th century. Moreover, the recent material turn in photography studies has shifted the focus from the aesthetics and subject matter of photographs to their materiality, from art historical interpretation to the study of the uses, circulation, and social context of photographic objects. This panel aims to expand the knowledge on photomechanical prints, challenging their perceived transparency by exploring their material appearances and social agency. To what extent did the materiality of photomechanical prints influence their social uses? How did the dissemination of photomechanical prints in various formats – books, journals, postcards, or decorative objects – serve art, culture, commerce, or science? These questions are all the more topical today because many such documents are now available in digital form, crucially changing the way we perceive and study them. The social impact of photomechanical prints will be studied from the first inventions to the boom of the halftone and other processes used in the 20th century.

Talks :

• Janet MARQUARDT - Materiality in the Zodiaque photographs of Romanesque art
• Karen FRASER - Constructing Cultural Identities: The Illustrated Books of Ogawa Kazumasa
• Susan LAXTON - Surrealist Photomontage and Mass Media Materiality