The Kamakura Print Collection, Photogravure Etchings by Peter Miller

Video: Watch Accidental Discoveries and Unexpected Pleasures, a six-minute video that explores how photogravure etching came to be, how the prints are made, and why. With live scenes from Hokokuji, the bamboo temple of Kamakura, and my workshop. If the video pauses to catch up with its stream, don't worry, it will start again soon. More videos in and around Kamakura to follow.

Site links: To discover how photogravure etchings are made, who invented the technique and why, learn about varieties of etching paper and ink, get guidance on framing, see related sites, or learn about assembling an art collection and investing in art, visit the Learning links. For on-line purchase and gallery information, news of exhibits and other announcements, visit the Purchasing and News links.

Small prints for closeup viewing, ideal for desktop, shelf, or any surface, are grouped here. See framing tips for novel ways of making original prints part of your surroundings.

Series links: Series links group prints that 'hang together' well as natural ensembles. The Series pages have detailed information about each print, such as image size, the etching ink, paper, and year of the edition.

Sub-Series: Explore each Series in depth through the linked sub-Series. For example, the Seascapes Series includes Waves, Currents, Traces, and Lakes. Clicking any image in the Series leads to a full-screen view. New works are here.

Navigation: Navigation bars at the top of each page show the path from this Home Page, with links showing each step of the way. Navigation bars at the bottom of each page provide links to every Series (Seascapes and so forth) of photogravure etchings. On the full-screen pages, navigation bars at the bottom provide links to all other prints in the active Series. With these links it is possible to see the entire Series sequence full-screen without returning to the Series page, to proceed in any sequence, and to take as much time with each image as needed. To see all the images in a Series on one page, just return to the Series page with the top navigation bar.

All works may be purchased on-line by clicking the 'Purchase and order information' below each full-screen image. These link directly to the price and order form for that particular full-screen image -- no more scrolling to find the print you want. Purchasing information by Series is accessible with these links, which are also found on every Series page.

Airmail package delivery is fast -- and free! The price you see listed is the price you pay, no extra charges for postage, handling, or anything else. Pay in Euros, US Dollars, Pounds Sterling, Swiss Francs, Danish or Norwegian Krone, Swedish Krona, Japanese Yen, Hong Kong Dollars, Singapore Dollars, Canadian Dollars, Australian Dollars, or New Zealand Dollars. Japanese Yen prices of Web orders are about 20 percent less than they were throughout most of 2008, as the Dollar has fallen from about 110 Yen to about 90 Yen (January 2009). Dollar prices are unchanged (for now), making this a good time to purchase for those paying in Yen. The easy purchasing procedure is explained on the Purchasing page. Your original photogravure etching can be delivered in a week. Questions? Get quick answers by return email...

Site Notes

Japanese text (kanji): To see the Japanese titles of these prints on your computer, set 'character encoding' to Unicode (utf-8), shift-JIS, another Japanese font, or 'Auto-detect Japanese' if Japanese fonts are installed on your computer. In Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Netscape, the character-encoding setting is in the View menu. If Japanese fonts are not installed on your computer, the kanji may appear as blocks or something else unintelligible.

About the artist. An irreverent summary.

Searching: Print and Series titles may also be found through the search box. The Series and sub-Series are described in more detail on the Viewing page. If a search shows old pages, refresh by pressing the F5 key, or the 'Reload' button. Do this anyway to be sure of seeing the most recent version of each page. (Otherwise your browser may show its 'previously cached' [stored] version of the page.)

Screen resolution: Full-screen images are best viewed at a screen setting of 1024 x 768 pixels.

Browsers: Firefox is the recommended browser. It has the best security and privacy controls, and its open-source philosophy makes it as widely compatible as possible. Other browsers such as Internet Explorer, Mozilla, Opera, and others will also work for this site. If text is hard to read, please set your browser to override the background and text colors used at this site, and set your own preferred colors. (This site uses dark background and light text colors.)

Sending a message: Please enter (type) the address into your email software. The email address is not 'clickable' because this generates a ton of junk, so please type the email address one character at a time. You will get a quick answer. Privacy notice: There are no ads, cookies, tracking devices, no means of passing any viewer information onto others. I send announcements of new prints or exhibits very infrequently. When you order a print, the only information required is your email address to confirm your order, and mailing address so that the print is delivered to you.

Photogravure etching and other printmaking techniques: Photogravure etchings are also called gravure prints, copperplate engravings, aquatint dust-grain gravures, or héliogravures. 'Polymer gravure' refers to plates with a polymer resist as the printing surface; despite the name, there is no gravure, etching, or engraving. 'Photo-etching' is a half-tone process similar to commercial printing; the dots are visible and the tonal range is limited by the lack of a resist that would allow for variable-depth etching. 'Photo-lithography' is a term used in the semiconductor industry to describe the patterning of semiconductor wafer resists and printed circuit boards prior to etching. 'Rotogravure', despite the similar-sounding name and the Easter-song fame, is an essentially different process, formerly used for Sunday supplements; as a fast production process, its depth and tonal range were limited by the rotary (as opposed to flat) plate and by the thinner inks used. Photogravure is one of many 19th-century photographic processes, which include platinum, palladium, carbon, cyanotype, and others. See 'Photogravure Etching in the Intaglio Tradition' to learn more about how photogravure is related to the origins of engraving and etching.

This Kamakura Print Collection site first appeared on the World Wide Web in August 1997. Starting with photogravure etchings from Kamakura, Japan, it has since grown to include images from other parts of Japan, Asia, and Europe. The site also provides practical how-to information for people seeking to purchase photogravure etchings, or make their own.