Alloyed Atmospheres: Photographic Materiality and Industrial Pollution

Please join the Department of the History of Art and Yale Environmental Humanities for a talk by Dr. Siobhan Angus, Assistant Professor, Carleton University. Dr. Angus’s talk is entitled “Alloyed Atmospheres: Photographic Materiality and Industrial Pollution.”

Inspired by platinum prints’ formal and material links to atmosphere, this talk begins from the premise that, aesthetically, platinum prints excel at rendering atmosphere. Materially, platinum’s use in photography is also linked to problems of physical atmosphere: experiments on platinum printing were driven in part by the susceptibility of silver prints to fading or discoloring through exposure to polluted air. Platinum became an important substitute for silver-based processes, in part due to silver’s vulnerability to atmospheric pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Tracing the entangled history of photography and platinum mining draws into view the connective tissue between geology, raw materials, labor, empire, colonization, and art.

The talk will take place in Loria 351 at 5:30 pm on April 9, with a reception to follow.