Understanding Hand-painted Photography as a Unique Form of Art

Since the innovation of the photographic arts in the early 1800s, photographers have been creating hand colored photography. The elation upon seeing a realistic image recorded for the first time in history gave way to immediate letdown owing to the fact that the color was not recorded. Not long after the technique was invented, daguerreotypes and tin-types had color painted to the image for the aim of making them look more genuine. The lion's share of customers for the new ambitious photography artist sought out portraiture and the only way to please these patrons was to add color by hand. Hand painted panoramic postcards also became quite prominent.

This craze carried on into the mid-20th century prior to the unveiling of colored film. Once color photography was perfected for public use, handpainted photographs were no longer in style. During the 1960s and 1970s, hand painted work could be seen in commercial work, generally for advertising uses.

Today, some photography artist carry on the tradition of this technique in and of itself as an art form. Digital photography now enables both artists and beginners alike to delight in the tradition of colouring their images with ease, as well as furnishing a way to make a fine art photographic print. But there is still nothing like an original silver gelatin print that has been hand colored. There is an sublime quality to handcolored fine art photography which is entirely unequal to either the clear vivid colors in ektachrome or kodachrome colour photography. There is also a richness to the original colored by hand photograph that far exceeds that of a digital photographic print, not to mention the uniqueness in each and every one!

A hand colored photograph is a form of the unique fine arts as well as a lasting treasured work of art. Oil paint is one of the most ordinarily used mediums. It is painted straight to the surface of the traditional black and white photograph. The oil paint really seals the surface of the photograph, resulting in the hand painted image being more archival than an normal black and white artisan photograph. The artisan is in no way confined to oil paint. A vast mixture of mediums can be used in the technique of coloring photographs. Watercolor, acrylic paint, graphite pencil, oil pastel, wax crayon, magic markers - the sky’s the limit! The surface of the photograph must be taken into consideration, however. A paper with “tooth” is essential for pencil technique, for example.

Unique hand colored photography is being executed in a vast range of styles from softly painted photographs to the contemporary heavily painted work of the celebrated artist Holly Roberts. A clean image where solely a single object is hand-painted can be pleasantly effective. A young child grasping a tulip where only the tulip has a delicate, subtle tint added to it creates a magical statement.

Yet every bit as effective is an photograph that has been transformed into a personal artistic statement. The photography of award winning artist, Padgett McFeely, is a perfect case in point. Her creations ranges from the traditional hand painted photograph to the extreme heavily painted photograph. McFeely discusses her photography with a sense of veneration. “Capturing illusions of reality on film by utilizing the raw purity of black and white photography is intrinsic to my work. As my work progresses through a variety of stages, I am in essence looking for that dream in the back of my mind”. Enter into her dream world and delve into the elegance of a hand painted photograph.

To see samples of McFeely's Hand Colored Photographs visit www.GoodHandArts.com.
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