Description
Strange Scenes in the Silver Mine
Book Summary
This book offers the first complete history of the photogram and camera-less laboratory techniques, a field traditionally marginalized in photographic historiography. Antonio Molinero Cardenal demonstrates that it is possible to create images without a camera, but not without light, analyzing everything from the origins of this practice to its most contemporary manifestations. The work adapts and reproduces, for the first time in Spanish, numerous unpublished texts on the photogram, providing an essential historical framework for understanding one of the most experimental and fascinating branches of photography.
What is it about?
The author begins with the fundamental principle that photography is, above all, light. From there, he explores the history of the photogram, a technique that allows for the creation of images directly on photosensitive paper without the need for a camera or lens. The book covers the early experiments of the 19th century, the rise of the artistic avant-gardes of the 20th century, and the most recent proposals of the 21st century. In addition, it rescues and translates into Spanish a wide selection of historical texts on the photogram and related techniques, many of them previously unpublished in our language. The work not only documents these processes but also contextualizes them within the evolution of photographic and artistic thought.
Main Topics
- History of the photogram as a camera-less photographic technique
- Alternative and experimental laboratory processes
- Relationship between light, matter, and image creation
- Translation and recovery of fundamental historical texts on camera-less photography
- Artistic avant-gardes and their influence on experimental photography
- Evolution of the photogram from the 19th century to the 21st century
Who is it recommended for?
This book is aimed at photographers, visual artists, art historians, and photography students interested in experimental techniques and alternative image-creation processes. It will also be of great value to researchers and teachers looking for a reference work in Spanish on an underexplored facet of the history of photography. Enthusiasts of analog photography and the darkroom will find a rigorous and exciting journey within its pages.
What this book offers
- The first history of the photogram published in Spanish, covering a significant bibliographic gap
- Access to fundamental historical texts translated and contextualized, previously unpublished in our language
- A rigorous analysis that connects laboratory techniques with contemporary artistic currents
- A comprehensive vision that spans from the origins of the photogram to 21st-century practices
- An essential reference tool for understanding photography beyond the camera
Technical Specifications
- Author: Molinero Cardenal, Antonio
- Publisher: Casimiro Libros
- Language: Spanish
- Subject: General arts aspects, Photography and photographers, Special types of photography
- Collection: Art
- Binding: Paperback
- Publication date: September 2015
- Number of pages: 384
- Weight: 556 g
Editorial Review
Strange Scenes in the Silver Mine is a pioneering work that fills a gap in the photographic bibliography in Spanish. Its rigorous approach and its work in recovering historical texts make it a mandatory reference for those who wish to delve into camera-less image-creation techniques. The author manages to combine erudition with expository clarity, making a complex subject accessible without losing depth. An essential book for specialized libraries and for any reader interested in the foundations and boundaries of photography.