Jeanloup SIEFF - Les Dessous de la mode V, 1983

Collotype from the series "Les Dessous de la mode", a limited edition of 200 numbered portfolios published in 1983.
Produced with the complex technology of light printing under the direct guidance of the artist in a very fine 250g/m² heavy wove Arches paper.
Blank on the reverse.
Signed in pencil lower right.
(Only a few portfolios were signed for friends of the photographer).
Size : 32cm x 24cm

The collotype process is a screenless photomechanical process that allows high-quality prints from continuous-tone photographic negatives. The process uses dichromate-sensitized gelatin to create a random surface micropattern. Regardless of the improvements and modifications in the beggining of 20th century, the collotype process remained technologically challenging and expensive. As such, it was quickly replaced by offset printing, which was faster and cheaper, and its use was narrowed to luxury printing. As of 2010 only a few collotype print facilities still existed worldwide.