Assignment 5. In The Darkroom

The most exciting thing about the exhibit was the opportunity to see all those photographic processes together. During lectures or while reading chapters from the manual, we encounter descriptions of maximum 1-3 processes at a time. When at one exhibition you see how it all developed through centuries you become incredibly excited.
Another thing which made me stay in sort of awe was photogravure by Charles Negre. I have never thought such a detailed picture was possible in 1854. I definitely had heard about it but no reproduction would ever reveal the exact meaning of 'detailed'. Talbot's 'Lace' (1839-1844) also turned out to be a surprise. When you see this photo on a screen it seems to be non-contrastive, blurred and dim, and it was really amazing to stay in front of the real image and find out that it was just as detailed and distinct as modern photos.
The choice of the topics by photographers in late 19th and early 20th century was also very peculiar. Seems that despite their photographic equipment left much to be desired, they were much more experimental in their work than modern photographers (vantage points - e.g. 'The Reaper' by Heinrich Kuhn, abstract vision - e.g. 'The Breast' by Edward Weston, Laszlo Moholy-Nagy experiments, etc).
Another interesting thing was definitely the way the size of the paper influences our perception of the image. Diane Arbus' 'A Young Man at Home in Curlers at Home on West 20th Street New York CIty' looked completely different to what I've got accustomed to see in books. The image being enlarged made the man's face more of a tragicomic quality comparing to the reproductions of the photo.
With some other images I've got a chance to compare the original with the reproductions in the book 'In The Darkroom'. And yes, the size means a lot. What was so colorful and grandiose in meaning at the exhibition turned out to be insignificant and boring when reduced to the size of a book illustration (e.g. Robert Fichter's 'Look Out Baby').
To sum it up, the exhibition was definitely worth seeing not only because it is always better to see originals than reproductions but also because from aesthetic point of view that was an exciting experience.