convex shaped photographs

[jenn_downes_twilla]

If you have ever seen those old photos that look like they've been

printed on cardboard and painted over, that are convex shaped, then

you know what I'm asking about. I would like to make a print like

these (of course an archival fiber print though). I have found one

source in the US that claims to have the original presses and they

are amazingly expensive prints to have made. Does anyone know how to

do this technique? I can't imagine it would be THAT difficult, seeing

as how these photos were mass-produced back in the day and peddled by

door-to-door photographers.

 

Any suggestions on how to do this would be appreciated. Thanks!

Jenn Twilla

[lex_jenkins]

Jenn, I've been mulling over what you've described but I'm having difficulty visualizing it. Do you have a link to any examples online?

 

The only suggestion I can make at the moment is to look for a good book on alternative processes. I have an old, probably out of print, softcover copy of "The New Photography: A Guide to New Images, Processes, and Display Techniques for Photographers" by Catharine Reeve and Marilyn Sward, 1984, Prentice-Hall. Very good descriptions and illustrations of most alternative techniques and some excellent material on papermaking for use in photography, both as bases for emulsion coating and for use in displaying photos. Some incredibly imaginative stuff on handcoating on various materials, painting photos, etc.

[jenn_downes_twilla]

Boy, I don't know if I can find any good examples - you can look at convexartist.com, but they don't really show the convex shape of the photographs. You can find oodles of these in junk/antique shops. They were slightly curved, appeared to be printed on a cardboard like backing and were often drawn into i.e. the eyes enhanced with pencil or paint, etc. Then they were usually framed in an oval frame with convex glass over it - no matting.

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I have a client who wants this technique applied to a current image. Convexartist.com will do it, but it costs a small fortune!

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I will try to find a copy of that book, but I'm afraid my projected deadline leaves little time for experimentation....

Thanks,

Jenn Twilla

[lex_jenkins]

Jenn, it sounds like the mounting/framing was done with something like a heat/steam press. The steam would soften the print and backing enough to allow gently molding it around a curved form. Bentwood is made pretty much the same way.

 

The tricky bit would be coming up with a either the original presses or figuring out a way to duplicate the result by some other means.

[paul_white11]

I have been a professional photographer for 56 years, having begun with sheet film and flashbulbs right up to the present using the latest digital cameras.. I have done my own film processing and printing, black and white and color. I tried for years to duplicate this process but to no avail. I tried forming the still-wet print in the convex glass, steaming the print and every other way I could imagine. The problem is that the print always wrinkles at the curves. I suspect that originally the cardboard was bought pre-formed and the photographers of yesteryear painted the emulsion on the cardboard, exposed and developed it. If anyone has found a way to do it otherwise I would love to know about it.

[Sandy Vongries]

Try Rockland Colloids.  They used to make a paint on photo emulsion that might do what you want.  They are apparently still in business, I looked quickly In the middle of dinner prep.

[rodeo_joe1]

Must be a US thing I suspect. Because in all my years I've never seen or heard of convex pictures, let alone "find oodles of these in junk/antique shops". 

Does anyone have a picture of what's being described?

I know about banquet cameras that used a curved concave film-plane and swung lens. But not convex curved prints. Were they cylindrical, or circular and completely dished? And to what purpose, apart from pure novelty?

Seems like a lot of trouble to go to for little return in 'user experience'.

Come to think of it. I have seen pictures embedded behind a plano-convex lens - a bit like half a snow globe. That doesn't sound like the subject of this thread though. 

 

Edited November 18, 2022 by rodeo_joe1

[Dustin McAmera]

The site cited seems to have been taken over to promote online gambling in Turkish.

My first thought was Sutton's panoramic camera, but that made pictures on concave glass plates.

I can imagine if you mounted an oval or circular print against the flat of a shallow condenser lens, that might look quite effective. You'd need a source of cheap condenser lenses, probably plastic, and glue that dries nice and clear and doesn't go yellow, at least for a long time. This doesn't need the original print to be anything special; it stays flat.

[Sandy Vongries]

Here is the product https://www.amazon.com/Rockland-Colloids-Liquid-Light-Emulsion/dp/B0002I6YWI

[Dustin McAmera]

For Europe, Fotoimpex in Berlin list liquid emulsions made by Foma, Rollei and Tetenal:

https://www.fotoimpex.com/chemistry/liquid-photographic-emulsions/

Because of lovely Brexit, they now have a minimum order before they'll ship to me in the uk.

[rodeo_joe1]

Even if you coat a domed shape in emulsion, how do you print to a 3D shape without geometrical distortion and grossly out-of-focus areas? 

My opinion is that the OP has misinterpreted a flat print behind a plano-convex lens as being a convex print with a glossy coating, or a convex print stuck behind a thin (iso-dimensional) glass dome.

Since the OP was only active on the site for about 3 months in 2003, we may never know. 

[glen_h]

A Google search for convex print comes up with this site:

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-convex-print.html

 

There is material designed to be ironed on (or with a dry mount press)

onto cloth that is usually a T-shirt, but could be used onto other items

of clothing, or non-clothing. 

 

This would be an unusual use, though, and the iron on part would

be a little harder when the cloth isn't planar.

[rodeo_joe1]

On 11/20/2022 at 10:49 PM, glen_h said:

A Google search for convex print comes up with this site:

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-convex-print.html

 

There is material designed to be ironed on (or with a dry mount press)

onto cloth that is usually a T-shirt, but could be used onto other items

of clothing, or non-clothing. 

 

This would be an unusual use, though, and the iron on part would

be a little harder when the cloth isn't planar.

LOL. 😂

A highly pertinent answer Glen, if anyone ever posts "How to get a photo onto the bulge in your boxers?". But not really what the OP of this thread had in mind I suspect.

[glen_h]

10 hours ago, rodeo_joe1 said:

LOL. 😂

A highly pertinent answer Glen, if anyone ever posts "How to get a photo onto the bulge in your boxers?". But not really what the OP of this thread had in mind I suspect.

Yes, but it is Aliexpress fault.  And they are actually convex.