'Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography' at the V&A Museum

Susan Derges 'Arch 4 (Summer)'

I loved every part of this exhibition, which I visited at the V&A a few weeks ago. The artists whose work it features reclaim and re-invent old photographic techniques to striking effect.

Eschewing the software of the modern digital era, and even the use of a camera, they take a hands-on approach which forces them to engage with their environment on a basic physical level. They cast light and shadow directly onto chemically treated surfaces. This is what, in addition to the unexpected beauty of the images they produce, makes this exhibition unique.

Susan Derges literally waded into a river in the middle of night, held photographic paper below the ripples and used lightening flashes to imprint their wavering forms upon it.

 

Floris Neusüss 'Untitled'

In Floris Neususs's work hazy figures loom from gloomy backgrounds like half-recalled memories. Their silhouetted shape strike a familiar cord with the viewer, yet the lack of detail and fuzzy edges transform the figures into something more mysterious. It imbues them with an eerie, ethereal quality.

At its heart this work is an exploration of light, its tones, depths and many shades. And what it is to be an artist working directly with the canvas.