Cross Over – Photography of Science + Science of Photography
Scientific images are fascinating because they show things and processes that remain hidden to the human eye. Photography makes it possible to delve ever deeper into micro- or macrocosms and capture them in images. Is photography mainly a visual research-aid for science or is it much more? Developing scientific practices have continued to place new demands on the capacities of the medium since the invention of photography in the 1830s, and have led to a continuous fine-tuning of the photographic possibilities. What is the essence of this delicate relationship between science and photography? What kind of images does science create and how should we read these photographs?
Cross Over takes a five-part look at photography’s role as a visual explorer in science: The chapter “Einblick/Insight” offers a view of the microcosm, from X-ray photography to microscopic views and cloud-chamber photographs. “Ausblick/Outlook” addresses the exploration and mapping of the macrocosm, the distant and the foreign, with pictures by the NASA or ethnographic missions. Attempts to establish orders of classification, analysis, and systematization are explored in the section “Durchblick/Overview”, with rapid sequences of movement or medicinal photography. “Selbstblick/Self-Examination” deals with how science represents itself in its very own ‘scientific theatre.’ In the last section of the exhibition the perspective is again inverted. “Reflektierender Blick/Self-Reflection” focuses on photography’s legibility and examines photographic parameters.
Among others with photographs by Anna Atkins, Auguste-Adolphe Bertsch, Hans Danuser, Liz Deschenes, Marion Denis, Harold Edgerton, Léon Foucault, Thomas Freiler, Bernhard Gardi, Raphael Hefti, Jules Janssen, Irène Joliot-Curie, Markus Krottendorfer, Albert Londe, Aïm Deüelle Lüski, Maschinensehen (Henning Arnecke, Lisa Bergmann, Christoph Oeschger, Elke Reinhuber), Melanie Matthieu, Aurélie Pétrel, Rodolphe Archibald Reiss, Hannes Rickli, Thomas Ruff, Adrian Sauer, Laurent Schmid, Sarah Schönfeld und Simon Starling.
The exhibition was curated by Christin Müller.
We would like to thank the Landis & Gyr Stiftung, Pro Helvetia Schweizer Kulturstiftung, Migros-Kulturprozent and STEO Stiftung for their generous support.