I've been thinking and doing a little research on what ways I can turn light into matter.

Early ways

"View from the window in Le Gras" is the oldest photograph preserved. It was taken by the french scientist Nicéphore Niepce in 1826, obtained with the use of a dark chamber and a plate of pewter coated in bitumen. The exposure time was eight hours. The image, in our eyes today, synthesizes the rudimentary crudity of the great inventions. There were several processes and techniques that developed throughout the nineteenth century. Some of the most interesting are:

  • daguerreotype
  • cyanotype
  • collodion process
  • and ferrotype or tintype

    • Tintype has often been referred to as the vintage polaroid, instead of creating a negative from which multiple prints can be made this form of photography creates stunningly beautiful, unique, and ready to display image in just minutes. The contra is that it requires a very successful handling of chemicals in a controlled environment.

    Instant printing

    Thinking about how to materialize photos immediately with existing technology I found a couple of interesting projects of cameras that use a mini thermal receipt printer to print the images.

  • DIY instant camera
  • Okazaki Asako's Fabacademy project
  • PrintSnap Instant Camera

    • I find a very real possibility to carry out a final project like this, although I feel that I would like to explore the possibility of recording the photographs on non-flat surfaces.

    3D drawing

    I was amazed by the geometric possibilities during the weekly molding and casting assignment. I thought of using the little platonic solids that I made to print the pictures on them. Then, the eggbot came to my memory.

    EggBot is a compact, easy to use open-source art robot that can draw on spherical or egg-shaped objects. I like the idea of making a device that can draw a photograph on a three-dimensional object but I feel I would like it to be drawn by light. May be i can get a good effect by painting them with photochromic inks, paints which when subjected to different amount of light their colour changes.