Etched in memory. From deeply etched copperplates, ink permeates the fibers of hand-made papers to create an incomparable variety of tone and texture: shimmering luminous highlights, deep multi-hued shadows within shadows, and the most subtle gradations of light and shadow. Photogravure etching connects the spontaneity of chance observation with memories of our past and intimations of our future. Printed by hand with many kinds of etching inks and papers, linking sight and touch, they offer a glimpse of the higher reality permeating our everyday lives.
This character, guuzen in Japanese, means unexpected, accidental, fortuitous, unplanned, unpredictible -- qualities needed for appreciation of art, and navigating through life (and this site). See for yourself; and if you find something you'd like to live with at home or work, then buy it! Every full-screen page (like this one) links to an order form, with the icon at lower-right, symbolizing a cycle completed by your purchase. Your print will arrive within a week of ordering. Questions? -- Just ask! -- by email, or Skype 'kamprint1'.
Views, News of upcoming exhibits, travel observations and tips, reports on recent shows, an art-inspired view of the world for printmakers, collectors, and all independent spirits.
Announcing a new (July 2010) Gallery representative in Washington DC: Parish Gallery - Georgetown, Canal Square, 1054 31st Street, NW, Washington DC 20007; Tel 202-944-2312.
Purchasing: Order your own photogravure etching directly from each full-screen page.
Interiors -- see how others are enjoying art you can live with.
Currently scheduled exhibits:
September 18 - October 17, 2010: Natura ad Arte, Grafica Internazionale d'Arte, Este Padua (group)
October 15 - 17, 2010: CWAJ Print Annual, Tokyo American Club (group)
Nov 8 - 13, 2010: Eumeria Gallery, Nihonbashi, Tokyo, Japan
April 4 - 22, 2011: Palais Beaumont, Pau, France
Spring 2011: Oporto, Portugal
May 2012: Saint Cyr-sur-Loire; scenes from April 2010 Saint Cyr exhibit; ..video
Map of Kamakura with links to prints in Kamakura, plus three illustrated walking tours.
Contact ・ 連絡: Please type into your email (日本語 OK).
Videos: A six-minute tour of Kamakura's renowned Hokokuji bamboo garden and my nearby photogravure workshop -- Accidental Discoveries and Unexpected Pleasures. Another take, by Kamakura-TV, is here (in Japanese). Vladivostok-TV interviews Artetage Modern Art Museum Director Alex Gorodny and me during the Sept 2008 Seascapes exhibit there (in Russian).
Site links: To learn how photogravure etchings are made, who invented the technique and why, get guidance on framing, buying, and conserving art, see related sites, visit the Learning links. For on-line purchase and gallery information, visit the Purchasing page. Get an independent, art-inspired view of the world at Views of The Kamakura Print Collection.
Framing tips for novel ways of making original prints part of your surroundings.
Explore a Series to create natural ensembles. The Series pages show print and paper dimensions, to make sure frames fit the space you have in mind. The Seascapes Series includes Waves, Currents, Traces, and Lakes. Clicking any image in the Series leads to a full-screen view, where the order button is at lower right. New works are here.
These photogravure etchings may be purchased on-line by clicking the order button below the image on any full-screen page.
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.
Purchasing is fast and easy, there are no extra charges for anything. Airmail delivery of your order anywhere in the world is free. The price you see listed is the price you pay. And you can pay in any one of 12 currencies. Details are on the Purchasing page. Your original photogravure etching can be delivered in a week. Questions? Get quick answers by return email...
Contact ・ 連絡: Please type into your email (日本語 OK).
Four ways to search: <1> Series links, found on each page.
<2> Search by mood, texture, ink, paper, place, image size, and price at Xpress. Scroll down to find the search terms.
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.
Searching: In addition to Xpress, 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. Refresh cached (stored) pages by pressing the F5 key, or the 'Reload' button. Do this anyway to be sure of seeing the most recent version of each page.
Screen resolution: Full-screen images are best viewed at a screen setting of 1024 x 768 pixels, or higher.
Browsers: Firefox 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. You will get a quick answer. Privacy notice: There are no ads, cookies, tracking devices, no means of passing any viewer information onto others. 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.
guuzen in Japanese, means unexpected, accidental, fortuitous, unplanned, unpredictible -- qualities needed for appreciation of art, and navigating through life (and this site). See for yourself; and if you find something you'd like to live with at home or work, then buy it! Every full-screen page (like this one) links to an order form, with the 
icon at lower-right, symbolizing a cycle completed by your purchase. Your print will arrive within a week of ordering. Questions? -- Just ask! -- by email, or Skype 'kamprint1'.
into your email (日本語 OK).