When the first photograph was taken in 1826, exposed for eight hours on a tin plate coated with asphalt, no one could have imagined how commonplace photography would one day become. And although we have long since entered the post-photographic age, we are still haunted by the nagging feeling that not all the secrets of photography have yet been revealed.
Six artists explore the traces of such potential secrets: Pascal Petignat + Martin Scholz search for chemical stains in the house of photography's inventor, Nicéphore Niépce; Peter Schreiner elicits hidden details from a sober instructional photography; Gregor Schmoll reveals the studio as an empty container that is filled with works; Isabelle le Minh stages overlooked details of the history of photography and equipment; and Sebastian Riemer finally uncovers the end of analog photography in discarded materials.
They all tell stories about photography and shed light on the unknown. The works on display are not always photographs, but they are intelligent, beautiful, and humorous works about a medium whose 200th anniversary we are celebrating.
Curator: Ruth Horak
