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The multigraph, a lost portrait technique brought back

In Barcelona, Miguel Navarro is bringing back the multigraph, a portrait technique that shows one person from five angles in a single shot.

Multigraph portrait of a young woman with curly red hair, shown from five angles in one shot, photographed on Provia 100 sheet film in Barcelona

In Barcelona, Miguel Navarro has brought back a way of making portraits that seemed lost to time. He has rebuilt the multigraph with mirrors, studio light and large-format colour film, and the results are extraordinary. We are proud to share his story.

The multigraph

There was a time when people had their portraits taken using a system capable of showing every angle of a person in a single shot, capturing them all within the same space-time. And that system was patented. It was known as the multigraph and was the conceptual seed of virtual reality.

Historic multigraph postcard from Barcelona showing a man in a hat and suit from five angles
A historic multigraph postcard, stamped Alograff, Barcelona.

In Barcelona, at the time, an architectural genius understood its power, and a legendary photographer created his most iconic image under the influence of the multigraph technique. One was Gaudí, at the end of the 19th century; the other was Agustí Centelles, in 1936, during the early hours of the Spanish Civil War.

A book, a mechanism and an exhibition

Miguel Navarro has brought together scattered pieces to form a project. Crónica alucinada del espejismo (The Hallucinatory Chronicle of a Mirage) is a book, but also a project to technically recreate the mechanism and, in the future, an exhibition.

The book is told as a detective story that follows three trails, which he calls hallucinations. The first decodes a photograph by Agustí Centelles, taken on Carrer de la Diputació on 19 July 1936. The second looks at Gaudí’s use of the multigraph on the Nativity façade of the Sagrada Família. The third is the mechanism itself, rebuilt from the plans of an 1893 patent to make portraits in which one person appears five times.

It runs to 120 pages in Spanish, and the exhibition is planned for the former American Alograff studio in Barcelona, where multigraphs were once made.

A new colour multigraph portrait next to a historic black and white multigraph from Barcelona
Then and now. A new colour multigraph (left) next to a historic one (right).

Rebuilding the multigraph

Reconstructing the structure of the mirrors, replicating the lighting and taking photographs with photosensitive material to be chemically processed were all part of the plan from the very inception of the idea. The first attempts at an analogue and chemical workflow were carried out using the RA-4 reversal direct process. First in 4×5 format and, subsequently, in 8×10. Despite the spectacular nature of the process, in which a black-and-white negative is converted into a colour positive, the optical quality was borderline.

Studio with mirrors set at angles for multigraph portraits, with a large-format camera and its reflections
The mirrors in the studio.

The decision to use Provia 100 positive film marked a huge improvement in the quality of the multigraphs. Shots could be taken with much smaller apertures, thereby increasing the depth of field. In the interplay of reflections, where the planes of focus vary, having depth of field is a very welcome advantage.

Multigraph of a woman wearing large orange and pink fabric flowers, shown from five angles
Multigraph of a bald bearded man with glasses, shown from five angles on large-format film
Multigraph of a woman with her back to the camera and her profile and face mirrored, seated on wooden chairs

Testing without the wait

In this workflow, having the AGO processor in the studio has been key to seeing results in under an hour. The average waiting time for an E-6 process on a 4x5 sheet in Barcelona is 10 days. That’s an age to have to wait to check whether the shot has worked.

With the AGO, a sheet goes from the camera to the light table in under an hour, so an idea can be tested while it is still fresh. A change in the lighting, the mirrors or the aperture can be tried the same day, instead of being judged ten days later from memory. We are glad the AGO can play a small part in this project.

Felipe’s sheet shows the path from the pour to the finished multigraph.

Pouring E-6 chemistry from a measuring jug into the AGO tank to develop Felipe's 4x5 sheet
Felipe’s sheet goes in, and the chemistry is poured.
Checking Felipe's developed 4x5 slide film sheet on a light table with a 10x loupe
A first look on the light table, with a 10x loupe.
Finished multigraph of Felipe, a man with long white hair and beard, shot on Provia 100
The result, Felipe on Provia 100.

Part of the philosophy that Miguel has incorporated into his process – driven by the sheer volume of photographs taken – is to take just a single shot. This responsibility falls on everyone involved in the shoot and makes the moment the shot is taken truly unique.

See it for yourself

If you’d like to find out more about and support Miguel’s project, visit his book pre-sale page or experience a multigraph in his studio whilst he tells you about his research.

The pre-sale has already passed its funding goal, and it also offers a session of your own, a 4×5 multigraph portrait made in his studio in Gràcia.

The past was our future.

Our thanks to Miguel for sharing his work and his story with us.

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