Shadow Catchers: Camera-less Photography

The very first photographs of the nineteenth century were produced without the use of a camera. Today, having rediscovered camera-less techniques, a number of artists are using camera-less photography to create beautiful, startling images. Now available in an updated and fully revised edition, Shadow Catchers surveys the work of five leading practitioners
Pierre Cordier, Susan Derges, Adam Fuss, Garry Fabian Miller and Floris Neususs
who, by casting shadows on light-sensitive paper or by chemically manipulating its surface, capture the presence of objects, figures or glowing light. The resulting pictures are consistently powerful, often with surreal effects and symbolic content. This is the first book to gather together the work of these key contemporary artists, revealing the technical processes and creative practices involved in their art. In an age of mass-produced imagery, Shadow Catchers offers a fascinating insight into a world of handcrafted photographs that are at once visually striking and intellectually stimulating. AUTHOR: Martin Barnes is a graduate of Leicester University and the Courtauld Institute of Fine Art in London. Having worked at the Tate, Walker and Bluecoat galleries in Liverpool and the Witt Library in London, he moved to the Word & Image Department at the Victoria and Albert Museum, London, where he is now Senior Curator of Photographs.
SELLING POINTS: . A unique survey of the most prominent contemporary artists creating photographs without the aid of a camera . Includes a fully revised and updated text as well as new works by the featured artists . An authoritative and sumptuously produced account of the history of camera-less photography and the processes involved . Published in association with the Victoria and Albert Museum, London 120 colour