Heinrich Kühn
Encyclopedia
Carl Christian Heinrich Kühn (February 25, 1866 in Dresden
- September 14 1944 in Birgitz
) was an Austrian
Photographer and Pioneer.
He is regarded one of the forefathers of fine art photography
, the movement that helped photography
to establish itself as an art on its own. His photographs closely resemble Impressionist
paintings, with their frequent use of soft lighting and focus. Kühn was part of the Pictorialist
photographic movement.
He mainly used the gum bichromate
technique, applied in several layers, and thus allowing for previously unseen color tonalities.
1911 Kühn invented the Gummigravüre technique, a combination of Photogravure
and Gum bichromate
. 1915 he developed the Leimdruck technique, which uses Animal glue
as Colloid
and produces pictures similar to gum prints. He also invented the Syngraphie, a forgotten technique that uses two negative
s of different sensitivity to obtain a larger tonal spectrum.
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
- September 14 1944 in Birgitz
Birgitz
Birgitz is a community in the district of Innsbruck in Tyrol and lies on a terrace of the highlands 10 km south west of the capital. The nearest neighbouring village is Axams in the west and Götzens in the east....
) was an Austrian
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
Photographer and Pioneer.
He is regarded one of the forefathers of fine art photography
Fine art photography
Fine art photography refers to photographs that are created in accordance with the creative vision of the photographer as artist. Fine art photography stands in contrast to photojournalism, which provides a visual account for news events, and commercial photography, the primary focus of which is to...
, the movement that helped photography
Photography
Photography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
to establish itself as an art on its own. His photographs closely resemble Impressionist
Impressionism
Impressionism was a 19th-century art movement that originated with a group of Paris-based artists whose independent exhibitions brought them to prominence during the 1870s and 1880s...
paintings, with their frequent use of soft lighting and focus. Kühn was part of the Pictorialist
Pictorialism
Pictorialism is the name given to a photographic movement in vogue from around 1885 following the widespread introduction of the dry-plate process. It reached its height in the early years of the 20th century, and declined rapidly after 1914 after the widespread emergence of Modernism...
photographic movement.
He mainly used the gum bichromate
Gum bichromate
Gum bichromate is a 19th century photographic printing process based on the light sensitivity of dichromates. It is capable of rendering painterly images from photographic negatives. Gum printing is traditionally a multi-layered printing process, but satisfactory results may be obtained from a...
technique, applied in several layers, and thus allowing for previously unseen color tonalities.
1911 Kühn invented the Gummigravüre technique, a combination of Photogravure
Photogravure
Photogravure is an intaglio printmaking or photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is coated with a light-sensitive gelatin tissue which had been exposed to a film positive, and then etched, resulting in a high quality intaglio print that can reproduce the detail and continuous tones of a...
and Gum bichromate
Gum bichromate
Gum bichromate is a 19th century photographic printing process based on the light sensitivity of dichromates. It is capable of rendering painterly images from photographic negatives. Gum printing is traditionally a multi-layered printing process, but satisfactory results may be obtained from a...
. 1915 he developed the Leimdruck technique, which uses Animal glue
Animal glue
An animal glue is an adhesive that is created by prolonged boiling of animal connective tissue.These protein colloid glues are formed through hydrolysis of the collagen from skins, bones, tendons, and other tissues, similar to gelatin. The word "collagen" itself derives from Greek κόλλα kolla, glue...
as Colloid
Colloid
A colloid is a substance microscopically dispersed evenly throughout another substance.A colloidal system consists of two separate phases: a dispersed phase and a continuous phase . A colloidal system may be solid, liquid, or gaseous.Many familiar substances are colloids, as shown in the chart below...
and produces pictures similar to gum prints. He also invented the Syngraphie, a forgotten technique that uses two negative
Negative
- Science and mathematics :* Negative number* Negative mass* Negative energy * Electrical polarity* Negative result * Negative lenses, uses to describe diverging optics, see lens - Photography :...
s of different sensitivity to obtain a larger tonal spectrum.
Literature
- Ulrich Knapp (Text): Heinrich Kühn Photographien. Residenz Verlag, Salzburg 1988, ISBN 3-7017-0528-3
External links
- Heinrich Kühn at photography-now.com
- Heinrich Kühn at Luminous-Lint
- Photographs by Heinrich Kühn in the Bildarchiv Austria of the Austrian National LibraryAustrian National LibraryThe Austrian National Library , is the largest library in Austria, with 7.4 million items in its collections. It is located in the Hofburg Palace in Vienna; since 2005 some of the collections are located in the baroque Palais Mollard-Clary...