Steps in production

1. The photographer's plate

Since its inception, the Automobile Club de France has been a pervasive force in organizing and promoting many events, while taking on a role as a pioneering institution that has worked to develop the greatest invention of the 20th century: the automobile. To immortalize the countless encounters devoted to the origins of the automobile (1890-1910) as well as including other types of vehicles, such as motorcycles and tri-cars, the A.C.F. has turned to an internal department assigned to photography. When viewing such testimonies today, an enchanting atmosphere radiates from the hundreds of glass plates that make up this invaluable documentary collection, in which clothing styles, personalities, unspoiled landscapes and of course motor vehicles mix, in the cherished Belle Epoque.

 

2. Glass plates

In order to safeguard these fleeting testimonies, the photographer produced photos on plates, which were negatives or positives on a glass medium (a process used after 1850). This glass was covered with a light-sensitive emulsion and cut into plates of various sizes.

 

The sensitive layer is made up of silver salts mixed with a substance that adheres to the glass medium. That substance differed by era: first albumin, then collodion, and then gelatin were used. The gelatin-silver processes in particular that were used after 1878 united increased sensitivity and an unequalled ease of use: the plates could be saved for long periods before being used. This allowed them to be circulated in large numbers to a wide audience.

 

So, photographs on glass plates have the medium (glass) on one side and an emulsion on the other (the gelatin-silver bromide-sensitive layer).

 

3. Processing in the studio

These glass plates must undergo several preliminary steps necessary for any kind of presentation and use.
Entrusted to Mr Dupif, a photography specialist, these precious documents are cleaned in due form, and from these are produced internegatives, without directly projecting any intense light source that could damage the fragile glass plates.
These intermediate documents are purified of all parasitic elements that may distort the view.
Finally, in order to make the image usable, the internegative is digitized.

 

But will silver coexist with digital...? ?

 

4. Printing on baryta paper

The last step in the process is to create high-quality prints on baryta paper, as was common in the early 20th century. In order to provide the finishing touches to the exclusive and authentic character of these prints, which are limited to seven numbered copies of each glass plate, cold stamps are affixed to the document: one shows the Automobile Club de France logo, underlining its prestigious origin, and the other shows the signature of Mr Jean Panhard, one of the Honorary Presidents of the A.C.F.

 

5. Delivery

The S.G.A.C.F.'s management company manages photo reproduction orders, until full payment for the order (including shipping costs).

If the photo reproductions in stock can be used for print run, the order will be delivered to the address and the purchaser that are indicated when the order is placed.

The lead time for an order of an available photo reproduction is 10-30 days from when the order is placed, not including transit time.

The lead time is specified when the order is entered or when the order is confirmed. This period is again specified on the customer account page, under the heading \"My gallery\".

In the event the photo reproductions are not available or if the photos in the order must be printed, the order will be delivered to the address stipulated by the purchaser indicated when the order is placed, within the period provided.

The detailed process for producing photo reproductions on baryta paper requires a production cycle time of at least 30 days.

In this case, the order's lead time is 30-45 days starting from confirmation of the order, not including transit time to the delivery address.

 

For further details on this point, refer to theGeneral Terms of Sale.

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