Holga Blog

Until Sunday 7th March, the British Library in London is showing Points of View, a free exhibition about the origins of photography back in the 19th century. You can view some of the photos from the exhibition on-line, as well as a couple of video clips showing the construction of early negatives.

Be sure to check out both links – but if you can make it, the exhibition is well worth a visit in person too. I went along last weekend and had a great time; something about the very basic nature of the first photographic techniques appealed my love of lo-fi. The exhibition starts out with the portable camera obscura, goes through William Fox Talbot’s invention of the calotype, and the rise of the wet collodion negative which meant pouring liquids all over the place while you were on vacation. Then there are a series of areas looking at different uses for early photography, such as traveling the world, scientific study (including Eadweard Muybridge’s early animations, portraits and even spirit photographs.

What struck me as I wandered around was just how well composed and exposed these photos are (although sometimes the lighting in the rooms makes it difficult to see – hint: take a torch). Considering (or perhaps because) negatives were A4-size, exposure times were at least 30 seconds (in bright sunshine) and film had to be concocted and processed in small tents that the photographer carried with them, there are some gems of images from these early days. Maybe being forced to take your time over a photo really helps the concentration.

One of my favourite portraits on display was this one of Charles Baudelaire by Étienne Carjat around 1862. The moodiness of the frame, combined with pin-sharp eyes, shows just how well a photo almost 150 years old can stand its own against the highly-technological world of today.

I hope to write more about other interesting points I picked out of the exhibition. But in the meantime, if you’re in London and have a spare hour or two, I recommend popping along and seeing how far we’ve come.

(BTW, the image is taken from one on display at the exhibition, which is actually composed of several photos. The full image shows different ways in which photography can be used, from reproducing drawings and other images, to portraits. It also shows early “prints” being exposed in open sunlight, like sheets being left to dry.)