This article presents the structure of and key works shown in the exhibition “Mining Photography. The Ecological Footprint of Image Production”.Taking a materialist and environmental approach to the history of photography, it shows that the invention of photography in the 19th century did not simply coincide with the emergence of fossil capitalism, but was closely linked with it. From its earliest days, photography has depended on and contributed to global trade and the extraction of what are called “natural” resources, the pursuit of cheap labour and the production of waste. This article explores the narrative challenges raised by this history and presents a number of representative examples of how these challenges have been addressed in the exhibition.
Tobias Zielony, Wolfen, 2022, diapositive tirée de l’installation, dimensions variables. © Tobias Zielony, Berlin
Boaz Levin is a writer, curator and co-director of exhibitions at C/O Berlin. With Esther Ruelfs, he was co-curator of “Mining Photography: The Ecological Footprint of Image Production” (Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg in 2022, Kunst Haus Wien and Gewerbemuseum Winterthur in 2023). In 2023, with Kathrin Schönegg he co-curated the exhibition “Image Ecology” at the C/O Berlin. Since 2020, he has been editor of Cabinet magazine’s Kiosk platform. Esther Ruelfs is director of the Department of Photography and New Media at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe in Hamburg. Her most recent publications include Mining Photography. On the Ecological Footprint of Image Production (with Boaz Levin, MK&G, 2022), Amateur Photography. From Bauhaus to Instagram (MK&G, 2019), and Activating the Body. Verlebendigung und Mortifikation bei Herbert List (Wilhelm Fink Verlag, 2016).
Keywords: extraction, ecology, Capitalocene, Anthropocene, colonialism, natural resources
Citation: Boaz Levin, Esther Ruelfs, « À propos de l’exposition Mining Photography. The Ecological Footprint of Image Production », Transbordeur. Photographie histoire société, no. 8, 2024, pp. 122-131.