"Contemporary Ambrotypes: Maayan Kasimov and Rob Norton"
2005-05-18 until 2005-06-04
Ryerson Gallery
Toronto, ON, CA Canada

Contemporary Ambrotypes is a photographic exhibition of 8x10 ambrotype plates that reveal the intricacies of relationships. Looking at how humans relate to animals, Maayan Kasimov’s sequence of images, Companions, capture the intimate moments that occur between her human and animal subjects. Following a young couple, Rob Norton offers an arresting glimpse into the personal world of two people in his series From a Distance.

To make an ambrotype, dark coloured glass is coated with wet collodian, sensitized in a silver nitrate bath and then exposed by a positive image. The unique qualities of its alchemy produce a remarkable richness of tones that is haunting in its beauty.

Contemporary Ambrotypes is a new release of an historical photographic process. Two photographers turned ambrotypists, Kasimov and Norton, have chosen to utilize the diverse history of the medium and explore one of the earliest photographic processes. In the history of photography the ambrotype quickly replaced the daguerreotype as the popular photographic process due to its comparative ease of production and lower costs.  The ambroype however, was used commercially for only a short period of time as market driven changes led photography away from quality and stability towards usability and multiplicity.

Maayan Kasimov’s work has been exhibited in various galleries and purchased by private collectors.  She has worked under the guidance of renowned Daguerreotypist Mike Robinson and has instructed Ambrotype workshops at the Ryerson School of Image Arts. Kasimov continues her work with animals as a commissioned pet and portrait photographer. Large prints of Rob Norton’s ambrotypes of Paris, France were exhibited in CONTACT 2004. He has a successful commercial art practice as a web and graphic designer as well as shooting his own films. He will be teaching a modern Ambrotype workshop at Gallery 44 during Contact 2005.

IMAGE
Rob Norton
Untitled, From the series From a Distance,
Ambrotype, 2003

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