Vintage Retouching Desk Was Photoshop for nineteenth Century Photographers

Photographer Markus Hofstätter, whose artistic analog pictures tasks have been featured on PetaPixel many occasions, lately tried his hand at guide retouching utilizing an vintage retouching desk from the nineteenth century.

Although many fashionable photographers first consider picture manipulation software program once they think about picture retouching, the thought of tweaking pictures has been round lengthy earlier than computer systems. Photographic manipulation has been round for nearly so long as pictures itself, and plenty of well-known early twentieth century photographers have been celebrated for his or her unimaginable darkroom modifying expertise, together with Ansel Adams. This PetaPixel story from 2013 exhibits how some iconic Magnum Photos have been edited within the darkroom, too.

“I often hear about the ‘good old days’ when there was no Photoshop and retouching,” Hofstätter says within the video above. “If somebody tells you that, you may show them this video.” He additionally mentions an awesome article by Jocelyn Sears on Mental Floss that discusses how picture retouching labored earlier than digital pictures was invented within the late twentieth century.

In Hofstätter’s case, he’s utilizing an vintage retouching desk from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries to edit glass moist plate negatives. It’s an unimaginable machine, and given its situation now in 2025, it’s clearly well-made.

It contains a number of parts, together with tilting arms and adjustment mechanisms. The fundamental concept, as proven in Hofstätter’s video above, is that an adjustable mirror displays mild up by means of the again of a glass plate destructive set on the highest of the folding desk. The photographer locations tracing paper on high of the glass plate destructive whereas the mirrored mild filters by means of from beneath. The picture being retouched is from Hofstätter’s “Emily Portraits of Hope” sequence. It’s a extremely highly effective sequence, and nicely value trying out.

By utilizing tracing paper, Hofstätter avoids making any everlasting alterations to his destructive, whereas nonetheless with the ability to make an unimaginable closing print. There seems to be a developer burn on the portrait he’s retouching, and the topic has some blemishes that Hofstätter needs to repair. While he appears like a professional, this was the primary time he has ever retouched a photograph utilizing this method. With a pencil, Hofstätter attracts over the burns and blends the grey with the colour of the destructive itself.

Then it’s time to make a optimistic utilizing picture paper, a salt answer, silver nitrate, and a duplicate body. After it was uncovered within the Sun, Hofstätter washed the print, toned it, and glued it. The ensuing closing retouched print is beautiful. While the photographer admits he might enhance his approach a bit, it’s a extremely enjoyable retouching venture and an enchanting take a look at among the historical past of picture manipulation.

Image credit: Markus Hofstätter