DAGEROTYPE, AUTOCHROME, POLAROID 1/1

Venue: Main Building, Hall 31

Curator: Olga Averyanova, Head of the Department of Art of Photography

The exhibition is dedicated to the 180th anniversary of the invention of photography. Three rare technologies in the history of photographic art will be presented at the exhibition - daguerreotype, autochrom, polaroid. These technologies do not allow the reproduction of works; they exist in a single copy. The first photo samples created using three main processes will also be shown: black and white, color, instant.

The exposition will consist of 100 works representing most genres: portrait, landscape, still life, genre sketches, scientific and applied photography. The works will be provided by museums in France and Austria (the French National Library and the French Photographic Society in Paris, the Westlicht Museum of Photography in Vienna).

The date of the invention of photography is considered August 19, 1839, when at a meeting of the Academy of Sciences a report was published on the technology invented by the Frenchman Louis Jacques Mande Daguerr, named after him. France revealed the secret of photography to the whole world, and the world was surprised to see its reflections for the first time.

Throughout its 180-year history, photography has been perceived as a circulation method of creating images, and even, having become a recognized form of art, this circumstance seemed to downplay its dignity. But there were exceptional examples - processes that did not imply obtaining copies, and this singularity brought their assessment closer to the traditional criteria of art. The charm of unique prints attracted many photographers who dreamed of being artists. Repetition-free snapshot technologies have occupied a special niche in the history of photography.

The exhibition will demonstrate three main historical methods by which a single image is created: daguerreotype, autochrom, polaroid.

The daguerreotype is considered the first photographic process - the art of photographic painting began precisely with daguerreotype. The exhibition will present daguerreotypes from the collection of the French National Library in Paris, dated 1840-1850, giving an idea of the features of the technology, plate design options, typical themes and motifs, and distribution geography.

Autochrome is considered the first color photo printing process. It was patented in France by the inventors of cinema, the Lumiere brothers in 1903. Autochromes remained the only massive way of color photography until the mid-1930s. The exhibition will feature autochroms from the collection of the French Photographic Society in Paris, relating to the period from 1907 to 1930.

Polaroid prints were the first way to get instant color images. The method was patented in 1947 and became widespread in the 1970s and 1980s. A single color print on the finished Polaroid card, in its way, turned out to be the predecessor of digital photography - the result of shooting can be seen instantly. The exhibition will feature polaroids from the largest collection of the Westlicht Museum of Photography in Vienna, dating from 1975–1989.

A feature of the exhibition is the exposition of three technologies in one space, presenting a new look at the essence of photography, at its quality as a work of art, unique in its kind. A circulation photo usually has a digital designation through the “/” sign, which means the number of the print from the print run, for example: 2/5 - the second print of five. The name of the exhibition emphasizes the uniqueness of photographs: a circulation of 1/1 is one of one.