If you find yourself in Amsterdam these days, don’t miss the fascinating exhibition Back to the Future at FOAM. I actually wish i could go back and visit it a second time.

Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Light of Other days

Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Light of Other days

The show draws parallels between the nineteenth century pioneers of photography who experimented with the technological and visual potential of the medium and today’s artists who are following in their footsteps by inventing new ways to use the materiality and processes of photography.

There’s a lot to dig through, learn and applaud in that show but i’m going to be my best lazy blogger today and pick up only one work: Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs‘s 2012 series Light of Other days.

Their haunting images were made by placing light-sensitive silver gelatin paper in a large analogue camera, resulting in direct and unique positive images. With exposure times sometimes longer than a minute and the help of electric drills to rattle the scenes, they create enigmatic images swirling whirlpools or produce a bright starry sky in their studio.

The combination of the qualities of the positive photographic paper and the impossibility to fully control the oddly staged happenings evokes 19th century’s attempts to photographically capture paranormal activities.

Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Light of Other days

Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Light of Other days

Taiyo Onorato and Nico Krebs, Light of Other days

Back to the Future is at FOAM in Amsterdam until 28 March 2018. The exhibition will travel in an adapted version to C/O Berlin, Germany in September.