Early Photographic Processes

Pirim

Question

I was not aware of this progress until I received an email from Robert Morvan who wrote:

'3D Look'

"I have two vintage photos of what appears to be a husband and spouse. What is different from other such vintage photos is that they are mounted on a sheet of soft metal. The features of the faces, such as the cheeks, lips and chin are pushed out from the back, giving a 3D look.

Do you have any idea what type of prints these are?"

Robert Morvan:  Ottawa, Canada:  December 20, 2013

Reply

Thank you to Gordon Rankin, a fellow member of Edinburgh Photographic Society for coming up with an answer to the question.

Gordon wrote

1920s

"I believe that these are likely to be Pirim* prints.  The Pirim process involves printing onto a sheet of aluminium then shaping the metal to match the key features of the process.

This process probably dates from around the 1920s.  Its inventors allowed others to make Pirim prints (under licence?) but it never became widely used." **

Gordon Rankin, Portobello, Edinburgh:  December 21, 2013

*    Pirim = Photographs in Relief in Metal

** I'm not surprised that the process never became widely used.  It sounds like a labour-intensive process to me!

Peter Stubbs, Edinburgh:  January 3, 2013