Princeton Direct Camera Re-creations:
Beyond Reproductions
Princetons are exact
re-creations of original art, absolute facsimiles
of an Audubon original. Princetons are not today's Photoshop
ink-jet print-outs, nor glossy mass-productions. Most Audubon
"prints" you see on the market are in actuality Audubon pictures or
posters. Princetons, however, are the real deal in Audubon fine
art, Audubon fine art prints..
Of the major Audubon Birds of America
full-size reproductions, the Princeton
Collection stands alone as
the world's only direct-camera, first-generation
facsimile edition. A first-generation
print is a copy of an original with no intermediate steps. A
second-generation is a copy of a photograph of an original, the
intermediate photograph being the first-generation. For example,
Amsterdam and Abbeville prints are second-generation, or copies of intermediate
photographs. Loates are in fact not facsimiles. Some reproductions today (Oppenheimers,
Centennial,
and others) are now made less expensively through digital scanning with the image stored
on a CD for later dot matrix printing at 300 or even 320 dpi. But Princetons are
actual lithographs, first-generation prints, being only one
step removed from the actual original. Princeton
reproduced original art, not photographs of original art as others
have. How were Princetons produced?
Offset Reproductions
All photo offset Audubon reproduction prints result
from images on film being transferred to mechanical printing plates, which plates are then
inked and put in contact (through high speed rollers) with the paper, resulting in the
final print.
Princetons were
produced in a way unlike all the others. The term Direct-camera refers to the critical process used to obtain the
prepared printing plates.
To understand the singular and natural advantages of the
direct-camera process, it is necessary to know how other editions were
produced.
Other editions began with taking a high quality photograph
of either an original print or watercolor. This of course reduced the image to the
size of the film. Obviously, with any such reduction, there is a corresponding
reduction (loss) of detail. The next step is the transfer of the image onto the
printing plates. Small film cannot be transferred to large plates to produce large
images. Thus, the image on the film first needs to be enlarged before it can be
transferred to the printing plates. The detail which was lost in the initial
reduction can never be recaptured in the subsequent enlargement. It is lost.
In fact, the subsequent enlargement process is often itself accompanied with its own
peculiar distortions. Once the film is enlarged to the size of the desired final
print, it is then transferred to the mechanical printing plates noted above.
This is not said to detract in any way from the value and
beauty of today's major investment editions, many copies of which we ourselves have
purchased for comparative purposes. They are still high-quality Audubon art and
are possibly good investments,
although we have seen the value of some of the better known Audubon
facsimiles lessen this year. Nonetheless, they were not produced directly from the
originals, but rather from a copy (photograph) of an original.
Princeton Audubon Prints
The Princeton
Collection, however, was produced directly
from the original Audubon/Havell antique engravings. Instead of working from a
photograph and reducing and enlarging the film, or
working from a scan, we purchased actual originals (from
Sotheby's or other auction houses) and brought them into our own printing plant.
These originals themselves were then carefully mounted before a giant wall-mounted bellows
process camera, with film the same size as the print. Thus
the exact image was captured on the film. The large image
could then be transferred to mechanical printing plates, without any reductions or
enlargements.
This process is risky, lengthy, and costly, yet the results
are stunning. Direct-camera prints capture the striking original detail in
Audubon's originals. The color fidelity is unequalled, the depth of color
breathtaking.
Concisely, the direct-camera process eliminates two steps
(reduction and enlargement) and transfers the image of the original directly
to the printing plates. The elimination of these two steps eliminates their
attendant distortions, and results in the most accurate of all reproductions.
Further, we were able to choose which
originals we reproduced, instead of limiting our selections from just those
available from one antique book of engravings. This is a fact of no small
significance, since over the years differences develop even between examples of the same
engravings. The unique requirements of the direct-camera process demand use of
pristine examples of original art.
Not mere reproductions, the historic Princeton Audubon Double Elephant
Prints are the world's
only first-generation facsimile re-creations of the actual antique
originals, simply the finest and most accurate Audubon re-creations
ever accomplished. Unframed and measuring more than two feet by three feet, these
impressive,
sealed, pencil-numbered, limited edition
(500 or 1500) images were printed with
the finest inks on heavy sheets of acid-free paper
that is stressed for 300 years and recommended by the Library of
Congress for archives. Additionally, this finest of all paper was
specially toned to match the average color of the antique originals.
Truly fine art prints, Princetons set the standard in Audubon
facsimile art. Other editions may cost more due to an
artificially low press run, and as a result need a higher price to
recoup the initial press costs. But a higher cost does not
indicate higher quality.
Princetons were printed on a 300
line (most reproductions are printed at the 200 level) meaning there
is placement of 300 dots of ink per one inch line. The level of 300 is
a threshold for the eye, as the eye will not resolve differences
beyond 300. The registration is exact.
Princetons are properly termed
first-generation re-creations.
Produced
in our own plant (the former Princeton Polychrome Press - thus the
name Princeton) between 1985 and 1993, our remaining limited edition
prints are now expertly maintained by and sold through Princeton
Audubon Limited. During 2003 and early 2004, we moved our
offices to an 18th century edifice on Schooley's Mountain, in Northern
New Jersey. From here we continue to offer the finest in Audubon art,
now including original Audubons as well as fine examples from editions.
If you would like to know more about the direct-camera
process, please email your questions to:
audubonart@aol.com.
