V&A Shaddow Catchers

I recently went to an exhibition in the V&A called Shadow Catchers. It presented the art of "Cameraless Photography".

"The essence of photography lies in its seemingly magical ability to fix shadows on light-sensitive surfaces. Normally, this requires a camera. Shadow Catchers, however, presents the work of five international contemporary artists - Floris Neusüss, Pierre Cordier, Susan Derges, Garry Fabian Miller and Adam Fuss - who work without a camera. Instead, they create images on photographic paper by casting shadows and manipulating light, or by chemically treating the surface of the paper.

Images made with a camera imply a documentary role. In contrast, camera-less photographs show what has never really existed. They are also always 'an original' because they are not made from a negative. Encountered as fragments, traces, signs, memories or dreams, they leave room for the imagination, transforming the world of objects into a world of visions."

Garry Fabian Miller

'Breathing in the Beech Wood'

In photography as in photosynthesis, light plays a fundamental role in creation. This work was made using beech leaves gathered from late April to early June in the artist's garden on Dartmoor. Each vertical line was printed on one day, with the time period increasing incrementally from one day between the first lines to around two weeks in the later stages. I find this fascinating. It is amazing to see how a series of leaves can symbolise so much. It symbolises nature, and the progression of a natural object due to it's environment and surroundings. This really could relate to us as humans. Naturally, our "strength" and "colours" change according what we do and what we surround ourselves with. There are always ups and downs but we always find that even if we have a down, we will always come back up, like the cycle of the leaf. I imagine that there could b an endless series of these posters showing the ongoing cycle of birth, life and rebirth, starting again with a new strength. This is also a fundamental lesson to us all as designers. We will always have those times when we feel we are failing but ultimately, its the process of nature, waiting for us to rise again and be as great as ever! 

Adam Fuss

'Invocation'

To make this piece, a mother briefly placed her child on a sheet of photographic paper that had been submerged in a tray of shallow water. A flashlight, fired directly at the paper, captured the child's outline as well as ripples in the water. The image is a kind of baptism, but its title, Invocation, suggests an earnest appeal or prayer. This too symbolises that rebirth. 

From this exhibition I have gained a greater appreciation for the art of cameraless photography. I must admit, I did not think I would enjoy it but it turns out that i really did!

To find out more about the exhibition, click here.