Ploughing on the Campagnetta

J. Craig Annan was a leading proponent of the Pictorialist movement of photography and an expert in the photogravure process, in which traditional printmaking materials are used to reproduce photographs in ink. In 1896 Annan published a portfolio, “Venice and Lombardy,” featuring views from his travels to Italy; “Ploughing on the Campagnetta,” which depicts a team of oxen laboring in the field, was among them. This print reflects the Pictorialist ideal of an “artistic” photograph—combining the photographic detail captured by the lens with the painterly smears and smudges of the ink used in the printing process.