Deodár cedars at Jibbi before 1895

This photogravure of Deodár cedars at Jibbi was made by Frederick Saint John Gore, sometime before 1903. The photogravure process itself is quite labor intensive, involving the transfer of a photographic image to a prepared copper plate, which is then etched and printed. Look closely, and you will see how the tonal depth, a hallmark of the photogravure process, gives a palpable sense of the light filtering through the forest. This speaks to Gore’s technical expertise, but it also raises broader questions about the social context of image-making. Photography, in this period, involved a complex division of labor, from the production of materials like photographic plates and chemicals, to the actual taking and developing of images. Gore, as an amateur, was clearly working within a well-established system of production and consumption. This image then, is not just a picture of trees, but a testament to the industrialized nature of visual culture at the turn of the 20th century, blurring any clear distinction between art, craft, and industrial production.