{"id":342,"date":"2025-02-18T11:08:54","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T11:08:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ralphvonkaufmann.com\/?page_id=342"},"modified":"2026-04-05T17:56:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T17:56:28","slug":"about-licht-radierung","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ralphvonkaufmann.com\/en\/about-licht-radierung\/","title":{"rendered":"about licht radierung"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Vintage Look<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

His photogravures are a symbiosis of classic etching and photography. Each print on the copperplate paper is unique. The application of the copperplate oil colour, the rubbing of the etching plate with gauze and the printing on the etching press are carried out by hand for each print, just as with copperplate engraving.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ralph began his first experiments in photogravure after reading an article in a trade journal about the New York photographer Peter Liepke, which aroused his curiosity. Peter Liepke first produced platinum\/palladium prints or gum prints from his New York photographs, and then had a \u2018Special Photogravure Edition\u2019 printed on the etching press.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a photographer, Ralph had already been working exclusively digitally for many years. However, he did not want to return to the analogue darkroom with all its photochemistry. The classic heliogravure process, in which a photographic motif is etched into the copper plate using acid, was also out of the question for him. So he looked for a way to combine his photography with photogravure. In the process, Ralph became aware of the still very new technique of photopolymer gravure printing. It took him a year and many experiments before he was able to print the first light etching the way he wanted it. The artist learnt intaglio printing with copper plate, oil paint and etching press from the artist and printmaker Sven Wohlgemuth in Hamburg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Am Anfang der Licht-Radierung steht die Photographie. Alle Motive sind eigene Photographien, in denen viele Erfahrungen als Photograph und eine lebenslange Passion f\u00fcr die s\/w Photographie hineinflie\u00dfen. Das Photographieren ist eine strenge konzeptionelle Selektion, in der er schon die Umsetzung in ein s\/w Bild und den sp\u00e4teren Druckproze\u00df antizipiert und so nur sehr wenige ausdrucksstarke Kompositionen den Weg in die Licht-Radierung finden. Jede Licht-Radierung entsteht aus einer einzelnen analogen oder digitalen Aufnahme ohne jede Art von digitaler Bildmontage, HDR, CGI oder KI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bei der Intagliotypie Radiertechnik handelt es sich um ein \u201eNon-Toxic Intaglio Printmaking\u201c: Anstatt direkt in die Kupferplatte mit giftiger S\u00e4ure zu \u00e4tzen wie bei der Heliograv\u00fcre, wird auf die Platte mit Wasser eine lichtempfindliche und weiche Photopolymerschicht aufgerakelt. Nach der Trocknung ist die Druckplatte bereit f\u00fcr die Belichtung mit dem Motiv. Das Motiv, das zuvor auf eine transparente Folie \u00fcbertragen wurde, wird dann mit Licht in die lichtempfindliche Schicht gebrannt. Farbe auf der Vorlage sperrt das Licht und dort bleibt der Photopolymer weich. Diese unbelichteten weichen Bereiche werden in einem Sodabad herausgel\u00f6st und in diese Vertiefungen wird die Tiefdruck\u00f6lfarbe hineingerieben. F\u00fcr die Belichtung der Platte verwendet Ralph einen Kontaktkopierer aus analogen Zeiten der Firma Theimer aus den 1980er Jahren. In diesem Ger\u00e4t sind ein 1000 Watt UV-Strahler und ein schwerer Vakuumrahmen verbaut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the intaglio plate can be rubbed with the oil colour, the soft unexposed polymer must be removed from the plate. To do this, the exposed plate is briefly placed in a bowl of washing suds or washing soda. The alkaline soda dissolves the soft polymer out of the wells. After a short intermediate soaking, the polymer layer with the indentations is fixed and hardened in an acidic vinegar bath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The subsequent print on paper is identical to the traditional copperplate engraving and the classic etching. The printing plate is rubbed with oil colour and carefully wiped out by hand in many passes with wiping gauze until the oil colour is only in the indentations. Once the plate is ready for printing, it is placed on the printing table of the etching press. A damp copperplate paper is carefully placed over it, the whole thing is covered with a printing felt and together the printing plate and copperplate paper are moved through the rollers of the etching press using a large flywheel. The pressure of the steel rollers, which weighs several tonnes, the moisture in the copper printing paper and the felt mat transfer the oil-based ink from the indentations in the printing plate to the paper. The print is complete. For each additional print, the printing plate is rubbed again with oil colour and wiped with gauze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the indentations are not etched into the copper plate with acid as with heliogravure, but are exposed in the photopolymer layer above it, the copper plate can be reused for other motifs after the edition has been printed. The photopolymer is removed from the copper plate by soaking it for a long time in a bath of washing suds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

F\u00fcr die Tiefdrucke verwendet Ralph ein Kupferdruckpapier von Hahnem\u00fchle. Das Echt-B\u00fctten Papier f\u00fcr k\u00fcnstlerische Drucktechniken wird in Einzelb\u00f6gen auf einer Rundsiebpapiermaschine hergestellt. Es ist s\u00e4urefrei und alterungsbest\u00e4ndig. Bei allen Radierungen handelt es sich um vom K\u00fcnstler selbst angefertigte Originalgrafiken.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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