Apollo cloud album9/19/2023 ![]() Constable’s understanding of the sky and the weather was profound.”Ĭonstable’s interest in accurately depicting the sky corresponds with the birth of meteorology as a modern science, Lebart notes. Most of these timeless and captivating images include notes of the date, time, and detailed descriptions of the weather, the wind and its direction, the characteristics of clouds, and the light or humidity. In 1822, they progressively became pure skyscapes in which the clouds are the singular focus. “Some of the first studies include buildings and trees. “Between 18, John Constable produced spectacular vibrant oil sketches of the sky and its changing cloudscapes painted directly outdoors,” Lebart says. Included in the show are notebooks on clouds by early pioneers of meteorology, books by devoted cloud observers throughout time, and pre-photographic cloud studies by British landscape painter John Constable. “Most of the works in the show have not been made with an artistic intention but still have very strong aesthetic qualities. “Another thing I find beautiful is the link to abstraction,” she says. The birth and early evolution of photography allowed the variations in clouds to be documented, with the art form contributing to the phenomenas’ international nomenclature. ![]() Two negatives were used to create a landscape: one for the sky and one for the ground. Also the prefered method was to make photomontage. ![]() Later, they could use cotton to simulate the clouds. “They would paint clouds at the back of their paper or glass negatives. “The first photographers were often painters, or trained as painters,” she says. “In many early photographs, it was very challenging for most photographers,” Lebart says. Photographers innovated and found their own solutions to depict the sky. One aspect of the show that Lebart finds especially intriguing was that at the very beginning of photography, it was extremely difficult if not impossible to photograph clouds given the lack of sophistication in available equipment at the time. The curators’ goal of incorporating as much diversity as possible of the types of work shown led to just as much variation in the kinds of clouds depicted, from dust clouds and pollution clouds to explosion clouds and artificial clouds, all of which can be found in the International Cloud Atlas. Some photos were taken from above, including those captured in a balloon during World War I by Edward Jean Steichen. There’s a vast range of materials and processes in the show, from salt-paper to albumen prints, and including manipulated, fisheye, and panoramic photos. The photos in the exhibition were taken all over the world, including Russia, China, France, Italy, and Canada. The exhibition is based on the Archive of Modern Conflict Collection, an organization founded in 1991 and dedicated to the collection and preservation of vernacular photographs, objects, artefacts, curiosities, and ephemera. “It was kind of an adventure in a way, to meet and discuss clouds with so many different people,” says Lebart, former director of the Canadian Photography Institute of the National Gallery of Canada and former director of collections for the Société française de photographie in Paris. From there, the curatorial process moved in all sorts of directions, the research involving meteorologists, collectors, artists, pilots, astronomers, weather forecasters, and photographers. Lebart says the ambitious project came about through conversations with Archive of Modern Conflict and Reid Shier, director of the Polygon Gallery, during which they discovered their shared passion for all things cumulus, stratus, and cirrus. ![]() The album took on a life of its own, with professional and hobby photographers contributing to it this very piece is also part of the exhibition. During his lifetime (1851–1932), he spent more than 20 years studying cloud nomenclature and became the inaugural director of the Institut Royal Météorologique in Brussels. Ranging from the first cloud nomenclature proposed by British chemist and amateur meteorologist Luke Howard in 1803 to snapshots of cataclysmic mushroom clouds from atomic bomb tests to a striking image of a ferocious storm system taken from Apollo 9 in 1969, Cloud Album takes its name from a scientific album initiated by Belgian meteorologist Jean Vincent. Photography in a way has allowed us to make a collection of clouds.” In science, you have plants on shelves, but with clouds it has been impossible to catch them. “The forms are extraordinary, and I think their encounter with photography has been intense because photographs have a lot to do with collecting clouds in a way. “The subject is fascinating whether you’re three years old or older-there’s no age for appreciating clouds,” Lebart tells Stir via Zoom from her home base in Paris. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply.AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |