Lot 81: MILTON HALBERSTADT

MILTON HALBERSTADT 1919-2000 'SAN FRANCISCO (1)' Kodalith line print, signed in ink on the image, flush-mounted, the photographer's 'm. halberstadt/243 vallejo st/san francisco 11' studio stamp and and a 'Photography Collection of the Polaroid Corporation' label, with typed title, credit, and process, and accession information in ink, on the reverse, 1959 18 1/2 by 15 1/8 in. (47 by 38.3 cm.)

Acquired from the photographer in May 1959 for the Library Collection

Milton Halberstadt is known primarily for his groundbreaking advertising photographs and campaigns for food companies that included Paul Masson Vineyards, Almaden Vineyards, Del Monte Foods, Dole, Foremost Brands, and Spice Islands. In 1945, he opened his M. Halberstadt Illustration Photography Studio in San Francisco after his service in the U. S. Army. He had extensive photographic experience prior to that time, having worked as a studio assistant and photographing for the WPA in the 1930s. In 1940, he received a scholarship to study at Chicago's Institute of Design. There he assisted László Moholy-Nagy and György Kepes, overseeing the photography studio and darkrooms, while experimenting. Halberstadt was also responsible for printing Moholy's photographs for MoMA to sell.

After closing his studio in 1973, Halberstadt continued to photograph and taught photography at the University of California, Berkeley; San Francisco State; and the University of Oregon.

The present print, and that in Lot 467, are Kodalith line prints, or tone-line prints, as named by Halberstadt. The photographer discovered the process in 1947 an Eastman Kodak book while designing his studio's new letterhead. He used it frequently from the 1950s on, intrigued by the abstract results he could achieve with the process.

The process began with a low-contrast original negative, from which an underexposed positive was made. These were then sandwiched in register, placed in a contact printing frame, and exposed on Kodalith (clear) film to make a low-contrast negative. Halberstadt then exposed both negatives with a sliver of light set at 45 degrees from vertical. The film was processed in a high-contrast litho developer. The appearance of the resulting images was determined by the length of the exposure. Some variations, as seen in the present print, were made when the film was re-exposed to create a 'solarized' version. (Susan Ehrens, "Halberstadt," B&W, 5 February 2000, pp. 63-4)