Thrilling New Exhibition Honors Practically 200 Years of Analog Photography

A brand new exhibition celebrates two centuries of analog images, tracing the medium from its Nineteenth-century origins to the trendy digital age.

Curated by Aditya Arya, Touching Light: A Prelude to the Bicentennial of Photography (1827–2027) emphasizes the immersive and intimate qualities of analog processes. From the chemical alchemy of the darkroom to the distinctive textures and imperfections of every print, Arya highlights how the bodily engagement of movie images shapes each the act of creating a picture and the expertise of viewing it. The exhibition presents a dialogue between the previous and current, inviting audiences to think about how analog practices proceed to tell the artwork of seeing.

“This exhibition is a tribute — an ode — to the practice and practitioners of photography, as we celebrate the bicentennial of the medium. Two hundred years ago, a Frenchman named Nicéphore Niépce created the first ‘photographic’ image using a camera obscura,” Arya notes.

“His colleague, Louis Daguerre, went on to invent the iconic daguerreotype process, laying the foundation for truthful likeness of the image 19th-century alchemists took image-making processes to new and inventive heights, making the arrival of photography, without doubt, one of the most impactful developments in the history of humankind.”

Honoring Photography’s Beginnings

The exhibition pays tribute to the tactile and sensory practices that outlined images’s earliest years. Visitors encounter Nineteenth-century treasures similar to Carte de Visite portraits from Bourne & Shepherd, Darogha Abbas Ali’s Beauties of Lucknow (1870s), and Felice Beato’s stark pictures from the aftermath of the 1857 rebellion. These works embody the second when images was first taking form as each a documentary device and a artistic medium.

The early years of images demanded precision, endurance, and self-discipline. Cameras had been cumbersome, plates fragile, and exposures lengthy. Darkrooms weren’t merely areas of manufacturing however laboratories of discovery the place pictures slowly emerged in chemical baths. The exhibition emphasizes these processes, inviting viewers to think about the deliberate tempo of early images as central to its artistry.

“These negatives and prints are tangible objects. The analog photographs of the featured archives and individual photographers on show bear unique characteristics—grain, light leaks, and color shifts—that arise from the physical and chemical processes involved,” says Curator Aditya Arya.

“These imperfections add personality and authenticity to each image, and the inherent fragility of the medium, both in materials and process. This fragility shapes the way photographers interact with their medium and contributes to the unique character and value of analog images. Many of the glass negatives and silver prints on display show varying degrees of degradation, underscoring the ephemeral beauty and historical significance of this art form.”

A Celebration of Imperfection

One of the central themes of Touching Light is the embrace of images’s imperfections. Grain, tonal variation, and lightweight leaks will not be handled as flaws however as indicators of authenticity. In a world the place digital pictures are perfected and replicated endlessly, the fragility of movie serves as a poignant reminder of impermanence.

Arya highlights this distinction by emphasizing the self-discipline inherent in analog apply, remarking that the imperfections and limitations of movie will not be obstacles however the very qualities that give it enduring worth.

“There was a discipline which has disappeared, and this discipline is rather essential to any art,” Arya says.

Photography as Historical Witness

The exhibition additionally positions images as a witness to historical past. In specific, Felice Beato’s images from Lucknow after the 1857 rebellion are among the many earliest visible information of colonial battle. His pictures, rigorously staged but stark of their presentation, seize the aftermath of struggle and destruction whereas elevating questions on images’s function in shaping narratives of energy.

Darogha Abbas Ali’s Beauties of Lucknow provides one other perspective. His images of courtesans will not be solely inventive portraits but additionally cultural paperwork, preserving a world that was present process speedy change within the Nineteenth century. Similarly, the colonial-era People of India collection, lengthy criticized as an instrument of ethnographic management, in the present day supplies perception into how visible illustration was intertwined with governance and identification.

“Touching Light stands as a celebration of the practitioners who, through their dedication and vision, have shaped the visual history of India. It invites viewers to reflect on the enduring allure of analog photography and to honor the legacy of those who have preserved our collective memory through their craft,” Arya explains.

Contemporary Voices in Analog Photography

Alongside these historic works, Touching Light showcases contributions from 28 modern Indian photographers. Their works reveal the continued relevance of analog images even in an period dominated by digital expertise.

Avinash Pasricha’s lengthy engagement with performing arts images captures the nuance of motion and gesture in dwell efficiency. Prabir Purkayastha experiments with gilded prints and different conventional processes to push the boundaries of analog’s expressive potentialities. Serena Chopra’s work embodies a quiet, documentary method, the place endurance and intimacy form the connection between the photographer and the topic.

Other individuals embody Ram Rahman, Rohit Chawla, and Prashant Panjiar, whose practices span journalism, style, and political commentary. Their contributions spotlight the flexibility of analog images throughout numerous genres and contexts.

Photography as Philosophy

Touching Light just isn’t solely an exhibition of pictures but additionally an exploration of images as a manner of seeing and interesting with the world. The tactile rituals of analog apply, loading movie, ready for improvement, and anticipating outcomes, domesticate a philosophy of consideration. In distinction to the moment gratification of digital seize, movie requires endurance, self-discipline, and an acceptance of uncertainty.

The exhibition means that this philosophy is profoundly related in the present day. In an age the place pictures are created and consumed instantly, analog images reminds us of the worth of slowness, fragility, and care. It additionally highlights the connection between course of and that means, inviting audiences to think about how the act of creating {a photograph} shapes what the picture in the end communicates.

A Prelude to 200 Years

With the bicentennial of images approaching in 2027, Touching Light positions itself as each a celebration and a provocation. By pairing historic works with modern apply, the exhibition explores how the previous informs the current and the way analog traditions could proceed to affect images’s future.

Museo Camera’s initiative highlights India’s place inside this international narrative. The exhibition reminds us that images has all the time been each a neighborhood and worldwide apply, formed by cultural alternate, colonial histories, and the person visions of artists.

A Meditation on Analog History

Touching Light: A Prelude to the Bicentennial of Photography (1827–2027) invitations viewers to decelerate and interact with images as a tactile craft, one formed by endurance, chemistry, and deliberate artistry. By juxtaposing Nineteenth-century milestones with modern analogue works, the exhibition underscores how the self-discipline and fragility of movie proceed to tell the medium’s enduring energy because it approaches its bicentennial. In exploring these practices, the present highlights the timeless classes of analog images and their relevance for understanding the artwork of seeing within the twenty-first century.

The exhibition opened at Museo Camera in Gurugram on August 22 Museo Camera in Gurugram, and can stay on view by means of September 29.

Image credit: Museo Camera, Centre for the Photographic Arts, particular person artists as credited.