Haunting – evocative – otherworldly – extraordinary.
If you see one photography exhibition this winter – see this one: Sven Evans’ exhibition of cyanotypes up in The Heritage Gallery in Oswestry this month. Cyanotypes were developed by the astronomer Sir John Herschel in 1842, and are a way of producing blue – cyan – coloured photographs, using the sun to create the exposure. The photographs are really extraordinary – both soft and crisp at the same time, unearthly and haunting.
This is a remarkable exhibition: the images themselves are exquisite – landscapes, flowers, ships, views of Brittany – rendered ghostly and not-quite-real by the cyanotype process. But the photographs are remarkable also for their technical accomplishment: Sven has revived an 180-year-old process, giving us an extraordinary insight into the artisanal skills and specialist knowledge of real photography.
These are photographs worth seeing – photographs as artefacts, not just pretty pictures on social media. Do yourself a favour when you’re in town for your Christmas shopping: stop by the Heritage Gallery and see the exhibition for yourself.
Inside Out Art Group 