Photography Exhibition: California Museum of Photography: Smoke and Mirrors: The Magic of the Autochrome

The California Museum of Photography, located at the University of California Riverside has some of the best exhibitions of photography in the country. Smoke and Mirrors: The Magic of the Autochrome is an incredibly interesting photograph exhibition, and could be one of the best in the US this year. 

The exhibition will run through April 1, 2010.

Pictures from potatoes? Before mass produced subtractive color film became available in the 1930's, the Autochrome was the favorite color method of professional photographers and amateur artists. First sold in 1907, and invented by the Lumière brothers, simultaneous inventors of the moving picture with Edison, the Autochrome process used miniscule grains of potato starch dyed red, blue, and green to create a chromatic screen through which to capture color with an ease never before possible. Often compared with the works of Impressionist painters, the starch grains lend a vague and painterly aspect to the images. The result is a one of a kind glass plate of striking beauty and muted, smoky color. UCR/California Museum of Photography collection contains several examples of these early twentieth century images taken by Californian photographers, such as Will Connell of Los Angeles and W. Edwin Gledhill of Santa Barbara. Smoke and Mirrors invites viewers to experience these lovely and haunting images of a time before color.

 If you’re in the Riverside, CA area, I strongly recommend visiting this exhibition. 

As I travel, I love seeing the work of other photographers as I hope you do. If you know of a new photographic exhibition which you think the Blog should publicize, please contact me.