The Royal Photographic Society Opens New Exhibition Exploring Neo-Pictorialism

The Royal Photographic Society is delighted to announce the opening of Squaring the Circles of Confusion: Neo-Pictorialism in the 21^st Century. The new exhibition explores how eight contemporary photographers are using traditional techniques and approaches in their work to address contemporary issues and demonstrate the beauty of the photographic image.

Featuring new and previously unseen work in the UK, the exhibition takes its inspiration from pictorialism, the artform that dominated the mid-nineteenth century and early twentieth century. During this time, photography became recognised as an artform in its own right, superseding its role as a scientific, documentary, and technical medium.

The works on show reveal radical experiments with photographic processes and include cyanotypes, daguerreotypes, pinhole and cameraless imagery. An introductory section sets out the historical context with photography from pictorialists from the later nineteenth and early twentieth centuries including Robert Demachy, Edward Steichen, James Craig Annan, Alvin Langdon Coburn, Gertrude Käsebier and Clarence White. The exhibition blurs the boundaries between art and photography, resulting in an expressive, otherworldly, and inspiring display.

The exhibition is curated by Zelda Cheatle, RPS Honorary Fellow and an independent curator, editor, consultant, and lecturer in photography, who has worked with many internationally renowned photographers. On curating the exhibition, Zelda says: “The original aim of pictorialism was to create an emotional or spiritual quality, evoke a feeling in the viewer, and this exhibition shows that neo-pictorialism enables everyone to discover and see something new, perhaps eliciting an emotional response. No prior knowledge of photography is required, but hopefully it will awaken an interest in the early practices applied to new work.”

Exhibiting photographers include Takashi Arai, Susan Derges HonFRPS, David George, Joy Gregory HonFRPS, Tom Hunter HonFRPS, Ian Phillips McLaren, Céline Bodin, and Spencer Rowell.

A publication accompanying the exhibition is available to purchase at RPS Gallery and online.

Find more information, resources and events: rps.org/Circles

Image credits: Takashi Arai, Maira-Leona; Ian Phillips McLaren, Pear; Céline Bodin, Ancher III