Mshaya’zafe hostel

Photogravure is both an intaglio and photomechanical technique. The technique combines the details of photography with the dense pigmented inks of intaglio. The use of pigmented inks and acid free pulp paper makes photogravure the most archival print technique. For photogravure, a continuous tone positive is exposed to light-sensitive pigmented gelatin tissue, which afterwards is bonded to a rosin coated copperplate. An aquatint is key to this tone-based technique.  After the gelatin is developed the copperplate, with the image containing gelatin, is etched in baths of ferric chloride of different strengths. The etching commences with the extreme darks, moving through the tones to the lightest tone – pulling the etched copperplate from the ferric chloride once the bite reaches the extreme highlights. Thereby the technique accomplishes a full range of tones and attests for a high quality fine art print.