Brought to Light: Photography and the Invisible, 1840-1900

[Michael Pritchard]

Alison Morrison-Low wrote a review of this book for the Times High Education Supplement which can be found by clicking here The first part of the review is below. The exhibition on which the book is based will be at the Albertina in Vienna from 20 March and should be worth visiting. --------- A lavish catalogue illuminates the secrets of scientific photography, says A.D. Morrison-Low The conjunction of photography and science has had something of a history, but perhaps not one that has been explored enough. Photography, after all, is the art form (though there are many in the art world who would deny that it is an art form) that was born of optical science married to chemistry in the late 1830s - in France by Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre, and in England by William Henry Fox Talbot. Brought to Light: Photography and the Invisible, 1840-1900 is the sumptuously illustrated catalogue of an exhibition of the same name which, after a lengthy run in late 2008 in San Francisco, will be at the Albertina museum in Vienna from 20 March until 6 June. The first such exhibition of historic photographs of scientific importance was held more than 20 years ago at what was then the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television (now the National Media Museum) in Bradford, and named, along with its accompanying book, Beyond Vision. Written by Jon Darius,...