"Mantel, Storyville, New Orleans" ca. 1911–13 Ernest J. Bellocq Gelatin silver negative on glass, Museum purchase, 73.241
06/12/2024 - 14/07/2025
NOMA - New Orleans Museum of Art
One Collins C. Diboll Circle, City Park
LA 70124 New Orleans
noma.org/
This exhibition looks at several processes and formats of photography made on glass surfaces—ambrotypes, magic lantern slides, and glass plate negatives—illustrating ways that glass facilitates the production and presentation of photographs, and offering a chance to consider its unique visual qualities.
The central importance of glass in the history of photography has often been taken for granted: a crucial material that has largely escaped commentary, as if hidden in plain sight. Today, contemporary photographers continue to utilize glass for its depth and beauty, as well as to ground their work in histories of photographic imagery. Delicate Sights spans the nineteenth century to the present day and includes works produced around the world.