A lot of people might look at this shot and just think it's a mess, but I think it's lovely. The choice made to hand tint the sky and buildings is interesting. The woman is left colorless, except for a small amount of the brown on her neck. Because of this it almost has an appearance of a collage. It's as if she's simply been cut-out and stuck in the midst of the snowy park. There's a painterly feeling to it. And knowing someone labored over this, made specific choices as to where to use color, makes it even more special because it really is one of a kind. There isn't another one in existence just like it even if many prints were made from the negative.
Today tinting of black and white photos can be easily done in Photoshop, but it often loses the spontaneity that real hand tinting created. There was a delightful messiness that often happened. And if you screwed up, so be it, there was no way to delete and try again on the same print. To read a little about the history of hand tinting click here.
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I have some hand tinted photos. They're lovely, aren't they? Truly a piece of art.
ReplyDeleteThey really are special. Imagine all of the ones that were thrown away because the people were dissatisfied with how they turned out. You just rarely see them.
ReplyDeleteGreat photograph - very painterly like. Kim
ReplyDeleteIt really is. And I like the way the blue sky just blurs off the edge. Most likely unintentional, but it breaks across the white barrier and just keeps going.
ReplyDeleteOh, it's Rosa!. isn't it?
ReplyDeleteI think the second tall building looks like a double expousure.Making it, you noted, collage- like.
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I was wondering if you were out there. Yes, our gal Rosa. Dear sweet world traveling Rosa.
ReplyDeleteI like looking at this picture.
ReplyDeleteIt looks also like she might be cut out and placed on top of the other picture. She is sharp and intense in black and the background is dream like.
I don't think this is the case, but it is another way to see it.
Dia Monde
That's what I like about it. It's very organic. It pulls you in as if you're just on the edge of another world.
ReplyDeleteThere is another figure in this photograph - towards the rear of the foreground. It is just plain eerie. It's like Rosa was photographed twice using the same plate (or negative as the case may be.
ReplyDeleteI think it's just the gloppy hand-tinting. A bit of a messy job, though charming. Probably done by Rodrique.
ReplyDelete