Rare finds in recent years of of caches early daguerreotypes caught the imagination of Imanol and the first images in his new cdags gallery tell a fictional story of a rediscovery of works from a French daguerreotypist’s time in Spain. The concept of rediscovery that Imanol relates is one that will strike a chord with many daguerreotypists, to find modern day inspiration in a 19th century process.

On Friday, September 28th, Erasto Carranza is having a solo exhibition and lecture on the Daguerreotype process.  This will be his first presentation on the subject, which will take place in Monterrey, Mexico.  Additional information can be found on the show announcement.

CDags.org is pleased to welcome Dafna Gazit, of Israel, to the site.  With 18 years of experience working with different photographic mediums, she has recently been learning the daguerreotype process through online resources such as this site.  She currently has 32 daguerreotypes on display in a solo show at the Alfred Gallery of contemporary art in Tel Aviv, Israel. The show will be up until September 28, 2012.

The Daguerreian Society has cancelled its contemporary daguerreotypes exhibit at its November symposium due to a lack of submissions. Feedback from daguerreotypists cited the lack of a return shipping option for artworks as a hurdle in submitting, not everyone was planning on attending so they wouldn’t be there to retrieve their images at the end of the exhibit.

This of course won’t be a issue with next years ImageObject exhibit as a Cdags admin and Penumbra/Center for Photography staff will be packaging up the daguerreotypes and shipping them back to the daguerreotypists (the cost of shipping though is to be paid for by the artist). Having two exhibits on the horizon may have confused some – a couple of people have asked about submitting plates but not attending. Just to clarify, for the ImageObject exhibit you don’t have to be attending in person to have your daguerreotypes in the exhibit. Submissions for selection are sent via email and then regardless of whether you’re attending the daguerreotypes need to be shipped to the Center for Alternative Photography ahead of time for the installation.

In other news the Dagforum is back up and running again, we took it down for a few days to do maintenance to combat the spam attacks it has been suffering of late. I have started a thread there on the ImageObject exhibit to give some background on it and to hear any thoughts/questions you might have.

Binh Danh’s solo show will be at Haines Gallery from September 6 – October 27, 2012.

Excerpt from the press release:

“SAN FRANCISCO – Known for his innovative approach to alternative photographic processes, Binh Danh presents a new series of daguerreotypes in his fourth exhibition at Haines Gallery. The works on view in Yosemite are the result of his three-year investigation into perfecting the creation of “in-camera” daguerreotypes, one-of-a-kind works that cannot be duplicated and are the earliest form of photography. While Danh experimented with variations on the daguerreotype process in earlier bodies of work, it was not until 2009 that he embarked upon the painstaking process of sensitizing, exposing and developing silver plates in the landscape, striving to achieve the quality he so admires in nineteenth century examples of this medium.

Danh’s daguerreotypes extend and reconsider the pursuit of pioneering nineteenth century landscape photographer, Carleton Watkins, best known for his series of mammoth-plate photographs made in the Yosemite Valley in the mid-to-late 1800s. He revisits many of the same sites as Watkins, including Yosemite Falls, El Capitan and Horsetail Falls, which is only viewable two to three months each year. Though investigating the same terrain as this predecessor, Danh imbues this scenery with his distinctly personal perspective – namely, an attempt to negotiate his connection as a Vietnamese American with the landscape and history of the United States. He explains, “I am interested in how we as a nation of immigrants could ‘reflect’ on these daguerreotypes and see our faces in this landscape.” The highly reflective surfaces of Danh’s daguerreotypes literally mirror their surroundings, embracing viewers within the idyllic environs of this national
landmark.”

Visit his online gallery to see the plates included in the show or purchase the available catalog on blurb.