Noelle Wharton-Ayer, Cachette-Devinette I (détail / detail), 2024, cyanotype et gouache iridescente sur papier Stonehenge / cyanotype and iridescent gouache on Stonehenge paper, 76 × 112 cm
Anne-Marie Bouchard, silver print, negative developed in a developer of NaOH and Labrador tea, ProMaster RC paper exposed for 45 minutes with the same negative; grey half developed 10 minutes in NaOH with rhubarb-based extract; beige half developed in the same developer then tinted
[Fall 2026]
Inventing Sensitivity
Photography and eco-friendly practices in Quebec
By Nathalie Côté
[EXCERPT]
Ecological issues are an increasingly central concern among a growing number of artists. Those in Quebec who are exploring eco-friendly photography, including members of artist-run centres, are finding different ways to contribute to current research.
Given the proliferation of images, “the history of photography is at a dead end,” as Joan Fontcurberta wrote in his essay Manifeste pour une post-photographie (Actes Sud, 2022). There are so many photographs that it is impossible to see them all, and they become simply visual noise; moreover, it is getting harder to distinguish true images from altered ones. Given this impasse, revisiting eco-friendly methods of lab work seems to open the way to reconnection with photography and its history.
This is certainly the case for artists who return to the darkroom to experiment with photography that’s called eco-friendly, eco-sensitive, alternative, or artisanal. These terms correspond to ways of doing things to update silver photography and challenge the inkjet print technology that has been in use since the early 2000s. These artists also exchange ideas and share information, adding a social and collaborative dimension that is essential to their research.
[…]
[ Complete issue, in print and digital version, available here: Ciel variable 133 – INTIMACIES ]
[ Complete article in digital version available here : Inventing Sensitivity]
Nathalie Côté is a regular contributor to art magazines. She is the coordinator of the community newspaper Droit de parole, the newspaper for working-class struggles in the central districts of Quebec City. She holds a master’s degree in art history from the Université de Montréal. From 1998 to 2008, she was a critic at Voir magazine in Quebec City and the newspaper Le Soleil.