Not currently on display at the V&A

Breathing in the Beech Wood, Homeland, Dartmoor, Twenty-Four Days of Sunlight

Photograph
2004 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

Fabian Miller is a pioneer of the contemporary camera-less photographic image. This work represents his return to nature after a period exploring abstractions in light and colour. The leaves came from several trees and were gathered over a 24-day period in spring. Each vertical row of nine leaves represents one day of collecting and printing. Their careful arrangement shows the gradual effect of chlorophyll entering the leaf to make it green, offering a comparison between this process and photography, both of which rely on the transforming power of light.

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read Cameraless photography Cameraless techniques have been exploited and reinterpreted by successive generations of image makers and continue to be used by contemporary artists today. While related to the conventional practices of photography, cameraless images offer an alternative, experimental, radical and often r...

Object details

Category
Object type
TitleBreathing in the Beech Wood, Homeland, Dartmoor, Twenty-Four Days of Sunlight (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
Light, leaves, dye destruction print
Brief description
Photograph, 'Breathing in the Beech Wood, Homeland, Dartmoor, Twenty-Four Days of Sunlight', dye destruction print, by Garry Fabian Miller, 2004
Physical description
Photograph with 81 images of leaves printed from several different trees.
Dimensions
  • Height: 162cm
  • Width: 162cm
  • Depth: 5cm
Gallery label
  • Photography Centre, 2018-20: Garry Fabian Miller (born 1957) Breathing in the Beech Wood, Homeland, Dartmoor, Twenty-Four Days of Sunlight, May 2004 2004 Over 24 days, Miller gathered leaves and placed them into a photographic enlarger, using them instead of negatives or transparencies to project their images onto photographic paper. Each column of nine leaves represents one day of collecting and printing. The arrangement shows chlorophyll gradually turning the leaves green, offering a comparison between the process and photography, both of which rely on the transformative power of light. Dye destruction prints Museum no. E.529-2005
  • Cameraless Photography Garry Fabian Miller (b.1957) Breathing in the Beech Wood, Homeland, Dartmoor, Twenty–Four Days of Sunlight, May 2004 2004 Dye destruction prints 162 x 162 cm Museum no. E.529-2005 To make this image, Fabian Miller gathered leaves over 24-days in spring. He placed them into a photographic enlarger, using them instead of a negative or transparency to project their image onto photographic paper. Each vertical row represents one day of collecting and printing. The arrangement shows the gradual effect of chlorophyll entering the leaf to make it green. It offers a comparison between this process and photography, both of which rely on the transforming power of light.
Credit line
Given by the artist. Copyright Garry Fabian Miller
Production
Attribution note: Silver-dye bleach process, also called dye destruction print. These color prints are made from a color transparency or negative in which the print material has, at the outset, at least three emulsion layers of silver salts.
Subject depicted
Summary
Fabian Miller is a pioneer of the contemporary camera-less photographic image. This work represents his return to nature after a period exploring abstractions in light and colour. The leaves came from several trees and were gathered over a 24-day period in spring. Each vertical row of nine leaves represents one day of collecting and printing. Their careful arrangement shows the gradual effect of chlorophyll entering the leaf to make it green, offering a comparison between this process and photography, both of which rely on the transforming power of light.
Collection
Accession number
E.529-2005

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Record createdJanuary 24, 2007
Record URL
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