Historical Portrait
Julia Hall McCune Portrait by Ema Spencer
Archive record
1898 platinum print portrait of Julia Hall McCune by photographer Ema Spencer. Public-domain historical photograph from The Cleveland Museum of Art collection.
About this photograph
A platinum print portrait made around 1898 by photographer Ema Spencer, showing Julia Hall McCune.
The platinum process deposits platinum rather than silver into the paper fibres, producing a matte surface and a long delicate tonal range. Pictorialist photographers favoured the medium because they wanted their work to read as art rather than record. The process was widely used from the 1880s until platinum prices rose sharply during the First World War.
The print is held in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.
Compiled from the catalogue record and reference notes on the formats and events involved. The archive record above is the primary source.
Rights & Attribution
Explore
More from the 1890s
