October 06, 2008

Crates of about to be Brought to Light

I admit that one of things I love to look at most around the museum is this kind of backstage view. Like many of us, I have a passion for loading docks, pallets on casters, worktables, crates, drills, drywall, nails, screws, frames; I like seeing things taken apart, or just about to get put together… At any rate, this shot was taken last weekend, in the middle of Frida closing-day frenzy. That we can’t see here what was in the crates that Sunday is appropriate: the objects so carefully transported would have been pictures for a new photo exhibition opening this Saturday, Brought to Light: Photography and the Invisible, 1840-1900. The show looks at “photographs of things invisible to the naked eye: faraway stars, microscopic creatures, electricity, motion, the inside of the body” and is the special project of associate curator of photography Corey Keller. I’m a huge fan of Corey’s, not least because she’s incredibly down-to-earth, direct, and funny. And I’m looking forward to the exhibition, which she’s been working on for FOUR YEARS, a substantial investment of time and devotion. I understand too that some of the pictures we’ll see are ‘thought portraits’ (did I get that right?), images taken of people’s foreheads that claimed to expose what was on their minds at the time (and I am really glad that’s a science that never developed).

One of the pictures from the SFMOMA collection that will be included in the exhibition turned up in a “Collection Rotation” here on the blog a few weeks back (scroll down a bit, Maximilian Wolf’s The Milky Way) and is the back cover for the exhibition catalogue, very beautifully designed by James Williams, SFMOMA senior graphic designer. It’s exciting we’ll get to see that picture now in person.

Comments (1)

  • Hey, thanks for posting the behind the scene pics. It’s cool to have two sides of the coin with the picture above and the actual display.

    I’m a pal of Brandon Brown’s and something he mentioned sent me this way.

    Cheers,
    Barce

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