About this display
Photography was invented by a network of chemical experimenters. Little by little, they discovered the photosensitive properties of precious metals and learned to capture images from life on a chemical emulsion of silver nitrate, or iron, or gold, or ground up vegetables.
Today’s digital photography feels a long way from the experiments of the nineteenth century, but an intrepid society of alchemists is reviving the processes of the past and creating new approaches to darkroom photography.
Natural Magic features work by Megan Ringrose, Nettie Edwards, Karel Doing, Andrés Pardo, and Garry Fabian Miller – artists who have spent a lifetime exploring the chemical potentials of photography.
Curator
Dr Phillip Roberts, The Bern & Ronny Schwartz Curator of Photography, Bodleian Libraries
