Artist Talk with Binh Danh
Self Landing: Daguerreotypes On The Western Landscape
Monday, October 26, 2020
6:00 - 7:30 PM PDT
On Monday, October 26th, SF Camerawork hosted an artist talk with photographer Binh Danh. For the past years, Binh Danh has been traveling across the West, making scenic daguerreotypes in a mobile darkroom he called Louis, after Louis Daguerre, the inventor of the daguerreotype process in 1839. His photographs ask us to reflect on the land literally in the polished mirror surface of the silver plate, provoking questions of politics, landscape, history, and the self.
ABOUT BINH DANH
Binh Danh reconfigures traditional photographic techniques and processes in unconventional ways to delve into the connection between history, identity, and place. As a child who immigrated to the US from war-torn Vietnam in 1979, the memories and trauma of his diasporic experience serve as the foundation for his investigative practice.
In his highly acclaimed series of chlorophyll prints, Danh uses photosynthesis to print portraits from the Vietnam War era directly onto the surfaces of leaves. He is also noted for his contemporary daguerreotypes of the US National Parks. Using a 19th century format for decidedly contemporary aims, Danh imbues the scenery with his own immigrant experience. The daguerreotypes’ highly reflective surfaces literally mirror their surroundings, inviting viewers into the idyllic environs they depict.
Danh’s work has been exhibited and collected by leading institutions, including the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, CA; de Young Museum, San Francisco, CA; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago, IL; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA; Philadelphia Museum of Art, PA; George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY; and San Jose Museum of Art, CA.
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