Siobhan Angus – Camera Geologica: An Elemental History of Photography

#1 min Michal Šimůnek

5. 12. 2025

Siobhan Angus. 2024. Camera Geologica: An Elemental History of Photography. Durham, London: Duke University Press. ISBN 9781478025931
Siobhan Angus. 2024. Camera Geologica: An Elemental History of Photography. Durham, London: Duke University Press. ISBN 9781478025931
#49 Talk TogetherReviewMateriality

Siobhan Angus contributes to the discourse on the material nature of photography and visual culture with an original treatise that starts from a simple premise: every photograph requires a mine for its existence. However, she doesn't stop at this geological perspective; instead, she expands on the relationship between photography and the extraction of metals and fossil fuels, linking it to social, economic, ecological, and political contexts. In each chapter, she focuses on specific elements, tracing their origin, processing, and use in photography through a thorough analysis of selected images. The author chooses these images from the history of photography and from contemporary artists who critically engage with the material nature of photography and its connection to extractivism in their works.

Text: Michal Šimůnek

#49 Talk TogetherReviewMaterialityHistoryEnvironmentPoliticalVisual Culture Talk Together

Michal Šimůnek

works at FAMU and the University of Economics in Prague. His research focuses on the history and theory of photography, visual culture and consumer culture. His teaching and research focuses on vernacular photography, operative images, technical apparatuses and consumer communities. He is currently involved in the project Operational Images and Visual Culture: Media Archaeological Investigations.

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Daguerreotype Excursions into the Present

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