Pictorialist photography has been embraced initially only by the elite and then spread to the provincial intelligentsia who understood bringing of " the good, the pure and the everlasting " was nothing short of an ethical duty. Pictorialism was part of that.
The current revival of interest in the genre is due in great part to the efforts of some romantic photographers with not only a passion for antique alternative print processes but also with an ethical feeling, spirit and soul for the pure, the light and atmosphere.
Belgian image poet - fine art photographer 'Radan' André Devlaeminck (FLEMING) (°16.02.1952),"Landscape Top Photographer" at the present worked as a successful professional portraitist,a corporate and location, and fashion photographer in the 70's and 80's before concentrating on fine art photography.
At this day Radan re-applies as a pictorialist the alternative processes Bromoil and Gum Bichromate after studying photographic archaeology and nights of experimenting.
The bromoil process briefly is, that the original photographic exposed silver image, contained in gelatine on a bromide print, is bleached away chemically, replaced and applied by brush with a lithographic greasy ink.The brushes are redesigned on the same way as the earlier handmade brushes . The newly created ink image is comparable to a lithographic print. Everlasting and permanently lightfast.
This labour-intensive process, hand dyed-in-the-print with colour pigments, accentuates lively the lyrical pictorial image with a mystic light and colour effect.
And comparable to the impressionistic granular autochromes of the Lumière brothers introduced by Alfred Stieglitz in New York in 1907.
A classic adage to create a mystic and overwhelming atmosphere filled with inexpressible grandeur and lyric silence which makes man conscious of his metaphysical smallness.
An escape from this 'brutal world' and the hectic of every day. The images are the expression of a nostalgic cherishing and they radiate a serene peace through the balanced pictorial composition.
The artist gives this all an esoteric touch through his accurate observation and reproduction of the theme, thought for detail, but particularly through the high-tech finishing, the artistic and cultural - historical value of each image.
His photographs tailor-made framed, and his chromobromoils threefold matted framed with British vintage look root wood are certified one single museum quality vintage prints and become collectibles like jewels:
Of some pictures replicas or exact copies are available with the highest attainable photo quality of digital output on professional photo paper, difficult to distinguish from the originals.
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