Taking advantage of the arrival of the researcher Philippe Dubois at Unicamp, the Gallery of the Institute of Arts (Gaia) opened on Thursday (3) two exhibitions using photography and the process of development as art. The exhibitions "Luck revealed, Detours and discoveries" and "Recaptures in gestures" can be visited until September 11th.
In times of consolidation of digital photography beyond specific machines for this purpose, the use of techniques that date back to the 19th century can bring a new perspective on the photographic process. The exhibition "Luck revealed, Mistakes and discoveries", which is in room 1 of Gaia, brings materials produced by Imagineiro project . Roger Sassaki, organizer and researcher of the project, created the group based on a research and experimentation project on these photography processes, carried out in his studio in São Paulo and the holding of workshops, which were published on his blog.
The material present in the exhibition was produced using collodion wet plate methods, where nitrocellulose obtained from cotton is diluted in ether and alcohol. The images produced are handcrafted using ambrotype (developed in the 1850s, where the positive image is applied to glass plates), and ferrotype (process in which the positive image is created directly on an iron plate coated with enamel ).
Roger Sassaki, 2'50"
For the last three years, Roger Sassaki has been teaching practical workshops on photographic techniques and languages. Later, he invites participants to put together a work for an exhibition, planning everything from the functional part, materials, theme and each person's authorial production. In addition to Roger's works, productions by Anna Silveira, Bruna Queiroga, Laura Del Rey, Lucio Libanori, Manuel Gomes, Maria Clara Scobar, Maurício Sapata, Mauricio Virgulino, Osirís Lambert, Plínio Higuti, Simone Wicca and Tiana Chinelli are exhibited at Gaia.
Bruna Queiroga and Mauricio Virgulino 3'13"
In room 2, "Recapturas em gestures" is on display, with works by Ligia Minami and Ricardo Hantzschel. Photographer and master in visual poetics from the Unicamp Arts Institute, Ligia Minami carries out research into historical processes of 19th century photography, such as the techniques of monotype, cyanotype and engraving. In her show, Ligia presents works from the "Abraço" series, with portraits mixed with cyanotype frames, where elements are added during printing to the original photograph.
Ligia Minami 2'50"
I have been a photographer for 35 years and an educator, Ricardo Hantzschel Between 2011 and 2015, he carried out the essay "Mens de Sal", about the work of extracting the salt pans of Lagoa Araruama, in the Lagos Region, Rio de Janeiro. It is an economic activity of mineral exploration in the process of extinction where the lives of workers are rescued. And when printing the images, the region's own salt was incorporated, using the salt paper technique.
Ricardo Hantzschel 3'03"
After the rapid technological transition carried out from analogue to digital in the last decade, the use of photographic production and development techniques from the beginning helps not only to rescue history, but also to reflect on aesthetics and carry out artistic experiments. The presence of Philippe Dubois at Gaia, where he gave a lecture on the Italian artist Paolo Gioli and will participate in the “Photography and Cinema” seminar, in the postgraduate programs in multimedia and visual arts at IA, was the trigger for the initiative to hold both exhibitions.
"If you are bringing a thinker like Philippe Dubois, it is important that we discuss the beginnings of this language. What are the methods, the languages adopted and the first moment in which the images are revealed", explains Ivanir Cozeniosque Silva, coordinator of the Gallery. “These are techniques from the 19th century, with a perspective appropriate to the photographer and the way of thinking about images today. We want to show today's young people that there is more than just digital photography. I think it’s important for them to know that there are other techniques and processes where the image emerges.”
