Photography Inc.

Expo

21.11.2015

09.10.2016

Archive

From luxury product to mass medium

These days everyone’s a photographer! A click of your smartphone and you have a great picture. No more fussing around with rolls of film. Farewell darkroom. The digital era has changed photography for good. Things were very different 175 years ago when photography was in its infancy: a portrait involved sitting still for several minutes and the printing process was very complicated.

Photography Inc. tells the story of photography and the photographic industry from the early years through to the present day. Initially photography was a craft and a photograph a luxury, but automation, commerce and consumption eventually turned it into a mass product available to the general public. Along the way, manufactures have always been at pains to meet the consumer’s ever-changing requirements for faster, simpler and cheaper.

Photography Inc. examines turning points in the technological history of photography and their impact on the user. The exhibition takes a close look at the relationship between photographic industry and photographer, paying special attention to the role played by the Antwerp company Agfa-Gevaert in this story.

They’re all here: from the first photographs – daguerreotypes – to today’s selfies. Moreover, all the items on show in this not-to-be-missed walk through the history of photography come from the FOMU collection!

The catalogue (NL/EN) is for sale at the FOMU shop.

Curator: Tamara Berghmans