Binh Danh
Glacier Point, Yosemite, CA, 2017

Daguerreotype, plate: 5 x 7 inches
Unique, signed, titled, and dated, verso
Framed: 9 x 11 inches
Courtesy of the artist and Haines Gallery, San Francisco
Estimated value: $5,000

Known for his innovative approach to alternative photographic processes, Binh Danh extends and reconsiders the pursuit of pioneering 19th-century photographers. For over a decade, Danh has traveled across the American West, making daguerreotypes of scenic vistas on silver plates in a mobile darkroom he calls Louis, after Louis Daguerre. Danh imbues this scenery with his distinctly personal perspective—namely, an attempt to negotiate his connection as a Vietnamese American with the landscape and history of the United States.

The highly reflective surfaces of Danh’s daguerreotypes literally mirror their surroundings, embracing viewers within the idyllic environs of national sites and landmarks. Danh’s images are a result of his three-year investigation into perfecting the creation of one-of-a-kind, “in-camera” daguerreotypes. Working with large-format cameras modified to accept silver plates rather than film negatives, Danh’s command of this complex process is revealed in his attention to detail, diligently preparing and treating each plate’s surface to produce works that accentuate the unique lighting conditions of the scene.

About the Artist:
Binh Danh

Danh received his BFA in photography from San Jose State University, and his MFA from Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA. He has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions at institutions including Louisiana State Museum, New Orleans (2018); Phillips Museum of Art at Franklin and Marshall College, Lancaster, PA (2018); Memorial Art Gallery, Rochester, NY (2016); and Taubman Museum of Art, Roanoke, VA (2015).

Danh’s work is held in a number of permanent institutional collections, including the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and De Young Museum, San Francisco; Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Philadelphia Museum of Art; George Eastman Museum, Rochester, NY; and San Jose Museum of Art, CA.

He was included in the 18th Biennale of Sydney, Australia (2012) and has completed recent residencies at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Hailey, ID (2013); Lesley University, Cambridge, MA (2018), and with Haines Gallery in Nevada City, CA (2019).

Website: binhdanh.com| hainesgallery.com
Instagram: @binhtdanh | @hainesgallery