“Proof : The Intersection of Science, Art and Photography” Exhibition
L. Parker Stephenson Photographs
This event has ended.
L. Parker Stephenson Photographs presents an exhibition featuring selected images, from the 1850s to 2013, that blur the distinction between science and art photography.
Although it has not always been embraced by the scientific establishment, photography, itself an offspring of optics, chemistry, and physics, has played a pivotal role in the advancement and dissemination of scientific research and discovery. Its ability to faithfully document typologies and record what is too small, too fast, too bright or too remote to see with the unaided eye, has helped to form our understanding of the world and the skies above.
Objective and descriptive photographs of nature, space, or phenomena can be interesting to look at. A few, however, transcend their original intent and take on an aesthetic character that can be appreciated in purely artistic terms: an enlargement of a chemical compound appears to be Suprematist composition, an astronaut floating in space becomes Pop art, a motion study of an athlete resembles Futurist photography, a star cluster and nuclear fission represent Minimalist creations.
The works on view vary from cyanotype, salt print, albumen print, Woodburytype, heliogravure and photogravure, to gelatin silver print, digital C-print and dye transfer. Some are by recognizable names and others are unattributed. Regardless of period, subject, process, or author no scientific context is necessary to appreciate any of these compelling images.
Media
Schedule
from February 26, 2014 to May 17, 2014