No photographic establishment in these days is considered to be well
equipped that does not employ a skillful retoucher and provide all
the apparatus and [p064] conveniences for the proper performance
of this very important branch of the art.
It is within the memory of many photographers when this work of
retouching was done on the positive, and some establishments were
compelled to employ a large force of skilled hands to work up and
finish the crude productions of the camera and the printing frame.
After the introduction of the carte de visite portrait, and later
the Imperial card, and the consequent reduction in price, the
expense of this work became such a burthen to photographers that
they were compelled to perfect their mechanical operations to the
utmost extent, and by every means to endeavor to avoid it.
It occurred then to some one of the retouching artists to do this
work upon the negative once for all, and from this beginning the art
of retouching the negative has reached its present high position.
Retouching, like stippling or hatching in miniature, is a work of
art, skill in which is gained only by assiduous practice controlled
by good taste, and it is the special work of the artist and not of
the photographer.
While then it is not considered wise for the photographer to be his
own retoucher any more than it is for every man to be his own lawyer
or doctor, yet every photographer should know enough about the art
and practice of retouching to appreciate good work and to detect the
bad. And for that reason he should make a study of it both from the
artistic and the mechanical points of view.
By such a course of study he will learn to produce that quality of
negative that will require the least amount of improvement at the
hands of the retoucher. [p065]
[Illustration: FIG. 1.]
[Illustration: FIG. 2.]
The work of retouching requires certain appliances to facilitate it,
and its own special room or atelier. A small well-ventilated room
having a window with a northern exposure is the best adapted for
this work. This room should be supplied with the necessary
conveniences, such as the retouching stand or frame, which in its
earlier form is as represented in Fig 1, but which, after a time,
became much improved upon; one form of improvement is shown in Fig.
2, but neither of these forms became universally used, as many
artists fashioned their stands or frames to suit their individual
[p066] taste or the requirements of their room or light. The march
of improvement, however, is never delayed by such a condition of
affairs, and was not in this case.
It became necessary on the part of those interested in the
manufacture of such apparatus to produce something that should meet
all requirements, and this has indeed been accomplished by the
production of the desk represented in Fig 3, which is called the
Novel Retouching Desk and is suitable for any size of negative under
25×30; it has a false top which can be pulled down to darken the
space in front of the ground glass cut out.
[Illustration: FIG. 3.]
The bed on which the negative is laid can be set at any inclination
to suit the convenience of the artist.
By means of the slide-rest the negative may be moved up or down to
any desired position.
It is handsomely made in hard wood, and would be quite an ornament
to any retoucher's room. [p067]
Next in importance would be a varnishing table, a small table or
bench supplied with a gas or oil stove. See Figs. 4 and 5.
[Illustration: FIG. 4. COMMON GAS STOVE]
[Illustration: FIG. 5. OIL STOVE.]
Also Anthony's retouching varnish and varnish pot. See Fig 6, page
68.
A tin pot as shown in cut, with a filter and funnel in top; rubber
stopper in spout.