EARTH AND BEYOND
Photographic Meditations on Nature and Man - between quests and conquests.

The exhibition will present a selection of works in different processes around the theme of space, the space inhabited by man, in which he lives and prays, but also the space he has endeavoured to conquer. We will show among others a salt paper print from waxed paper negative by Linneaus TRIPE (1822-1902) Ruined Tazoung from 1855, one of the earliest photographic processes, as well as documenting the ancient Buddhist culture of Burma.

Another expedition, the “Terra Nova” to Antarctica, led by Captain Scott and photographed by Herbert PONTING (1870-1935). The large-format carbon prints evince the merciless beauty of a then unexplored continent.

We’ll also show vintage chromogenic prints from NASA, illustrating the extraordinary adventure of the conquest of space, such as the first portrait of an astronaut in orbit, Ed White photographed by James McDIVITT (1929- ) on 3rd June 1965, during the Gemini IV expedition. And there will be platinum/palladium prints on Gampi paper from two series by Takeshi SHIKAMA (1948- ), Galicia and Isle of Skye, taken between 2011 and 2013. On Skye, Shikama’s camera lingered on the ancient stones, granite fingers aimed at the sky in the midst of plains whipped by the elements. He’ll develop his negatives in the sunlight, just like the first photographers.

Other photographers: Charles Nègre, W.W. Hooper, Frank Hurley, Léonard Misonne, Franz Schensky, Margaret Bourke White, Matthias Olmeta...