Daily Iowan

Issue date: 3/8/07 Section: 80 Hours

Photography has always been a divisive medium. When it was created in the 19th century, critics debated whether such a mechanical process could even be considered an artform.

Many technological advancements later, artists and critics agree that it has secured a place as art, but they tend to favor one of two completely opposite methods: a documentary approach, in which the photograph acts as a literal lens on reality and the artist's hand slyly shapes the picture, or photographs of arranged scenes, often including works the artist has created, with the ultimate goal of creating an aesthetic effect, the artist's hand trumping reality.

But when he began, artist Lothar Osterburg - now one of the country's foremost practitioners and instructors of the 19-century photographic process photogravure - fell into neither camp. He went to school for printmaking, film, and painting, and he made his living afterwards as a master printmaker.

"I never was interested in the printed photographic media," said the Braunschweig, Germany, native, who will present a lecture today at 8 p.m. in 116 Art Building West. "I always hated the end result, the surface. What I loved about print and paint was that it was material, tactile. You could see the approach of the hand. It wasn't machine-made or removed."

In 1989, Osterburg was challenged by a peer to learn photogravure for a team project. The technique uses chemicals to etch an image from a photo negative onto a copper printing plate. It allows a much greater gradation of tone than the more common half-tone process (used in newspapers), which achieves darkness by printing small dots closer together. In photogravure, darker tones are etched deeper into the plate and receive more ink upon printing. The procedure is a kind of cross between printmaking and photography - difficult to comprehend and to execute but perfect for Osterburg.

"It was a very daunting three-month task, where we spent basically eight hours a day in the darkroom," he said. "But after that, I just had to try out the process on my own work."

The artist, who lives in New York, began by photographing small wire props he had created for some of his painting projects. When he couldn't achieve the desired effect with a standard camera, he began to use a hand-held magnifying glass to get closer. This new perspective presented him with a palpable connection to photography, something he had previously only achieved through printmaking.

"I started to fall in love with the photographic medium in a very different way," Osterburg said. "I saw scratches and impurities in the [photographic] plate itself. There's this real tactile quality to the print."

Now he is not just a practitioner but also a teacher of the technique. UI printmaking graduate student Aurora De Armendi, who studied with Osterburg in New York and will assist him with the workshop he will conduct this weekend for printmaking students, said her former teacher helped her to explore the bridge between photography and printmaking.

"He taught me photogravure, but he was also there when he wasn't my teacher," she said. "He's very willing to share all of what he knows. He doesn't want to keep photogravure to himself."

Osterburg's own work involves converting highly personal experiences into an artificial environment.

"I build everything from memory," he said. "Certain scenes, certain subject matters stick in my mind, and they sort of revisit me. Those images that revisit me time and time again I eventually turn into a photograph. It's not like I'm trying to create a toy world or a miniature world. I'm making this photograph based on imagination in order to complete it."

Certain themes (mainly water) dominate Osterburg's work. He frequently constructs boats, lighthouses, and water wheels - but never people.

"I wasn't really interested in people," he said. "A lot of my models sort of take on some sort of a character, a personality. Is that a cute boat, is that a threatening boat? A human presence is implied."

Despite the intricate thought and constriction behind his models, Osterburg uses what some would consider cast-off materials.

"Usually, I go Dumpster-diving," he said. "The material inspires me."

This spirit of flexibility exemplifies Osterburg's artistic philosophy. From painting and printmaking to photography, he has recently moved into sculpture.

"I love Picasso because he reinvented himself over and over again," Osterburg said. "I never want to get stuck and do the same thing from now on. I need to stay very flexible as an artist."

E-mail DI reporter Maggie Anderson at:
margaret-anderson@uiowa.edu



Wanna know more?

Learn more about Lothar Osterburg, his work, and the process of photogravure at this site

Rules to the many variations of Euchre are found here

See some of Lothar Osterburg's work at Artnet

Photogravure.com has plenty of information about the process and images

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