How collotype printing, an outmoded technology, helps preserve Japan’s heritage
Collotype was a popular commercial photographic process at the turn of the 20th century, but it is nearing extinction as more practical printing technologies become widespread and affordable worldwide. Unlike modern digital printers, collotype copies almost completely preserve the look and colour depth of originals, but, because the process requires a high level of expertise, demand for the technology is nearly zero. The German director Fritz Schumann’s film, A Story of Ink and Steel, profiles Osamu Yamamoto, a printer working at the world’s only, and perhaps last, colour collotype company.
Director: Fritz Schumann
videoBiology
What would it mean if we were able to ‘speak’ with whales?
65 minutes
videoHistory
The dry-stacked stones of Zimbabwe are a medieval engineering wonder
7 minutes
videoWar and peace
The extraordinary craft and fascinating symbolism of a pre-Incan ceremonial shield
3 minutes
videoMedicine
Drinking wine from toxic cups was the 17th century’s own dubious ‘detox’ treatment
11 minutes
videoEngineering
How water-based clocks revolutionised the way we measure time
10 minutes
videoEcology and environmental sciences
Join endangered whooping cranes on their perilous migratory path over North America
6 minutes
videoEnvironmental history
In Kazakhstan, ‘atomic lakes’ still scar the landscape decades after Soviet nuclear tests
13 minutes
videoArchitecture
A 3D rendering of the Colosseum captures its architectural genius and symbolic power
17 minutes
videoLanguage and linguistics
Do button-pushing dogs have something new to say about language?
9 minutes