On the Flood 1887

Peter Henry Emerson made this photograph, ‘On the Flood’, using a platinum print. This process, popular at the time, creates a soft, wide range of tones and a matte surface. Emerson championed photography as an art form. Here, he uses the camera to capture an everyday scene of labor on the water. The platinum printing process itself involved careful work. Light-sensitive platinum salts were applied to paper, then exposed to a negative. The print was then developed and washed. The final result mutes the scene, yet the workers in their boats are still visible. The process is unforgiving; dust or blemishes on the negative would show up in the final print. Emerson wasn't just pointing and shooting. He made choices about composition, depth of field, and printing to evoke a specific mood. He elevates the workers, the boats, and the scene to a fine art subject through his skillful manipulation of materials and photographic techniques.