Reborn Victorians: today, a generation of contemporary artists is returning to photography's historic roots but with a modern twist that straddles 19th- and 21st-century processes

Art Business News, Oct, 2003 by Laura Meyers

"If the art isn't interesting, what is the point?" he said. "If the only reason an image is interesting to a viewer is that it is on glass, then it is artistically a failure."

Sally Mann said the wet plate collodion process allows her to be totally involved in the act of making an image. "For me, 19th-century photography is simply unsurpassed," she told Rexer." Its artists conducted a comprehensive investigation of what the camera could elicit. They wanted to know what the camera had to do with reality. It is not that they wanted to see what the world looked like. They wanted to see what it looked like photographed. And that is still the point."

SOURCES

* Fong/Heiderdinger Gallery, (415) 566-1910

* Ricco-Maresca Gallery, (212) 627-4819

* Sarah Morthland Gallery, (212) 242-7767

* Kerrigan Campbell Art Plus Project, (212) 505-7196

* Edwynn Houk Gallery, (212) 750-7070

* Howard Greenberg Gallery, (212) 334-0010

* Sun to Moon Gallery, (972) 418-1199

* Fisher Gallery at the University of Southern California, imsc.usc.edu/haptics/LostandFound/ welcome.html