Angel's profile ~ 55x75cm

Nocturna Benedictina - major solo exhibition of unique photograms, Melk Abbey ~ Austria 2009 (following text translated from the exhibition opening speech by Brigitte Borchhardt-Birbaumer) The exposures from Lachlan Blair are astounding not only because of the specific development of a black frame box, which is utilised instead of a camera. These images are unique, there is no negative, no data, no second edition. Not even a correction is possible, as the subject is directly exposed to the photographic paper. In the exhibition "Nocturna Benedictina" Blair has concentrated on the renowned Melk Abbey with its typical Baroque architectural details, but also balustrades, trellices, gardens and statue fragments. At night when the thousands of tourists have disappeared and the monks have turned off their lights, he exposes light-sensitive paper to subjects, which have nothing in common with the snapshot industry. With this choice of technique, the magic and alchemic traits of photography's invention are present even today. Although in this case, the black box of the camera is replaced by night in nature: the history of nocturne as archetype of all photography remains the basic theme. Thus Blair allows dream territory and the immaterial to become visible, which corresponds to all good conceptual art. Here is a brief description of the technique A photogram is a fixed shadow of a three-dimensional object on light-sensitive material, creating a unique picture without the use of film or a camera. The result is a negative image. After briefly being exposed to light and subsequently developed in photographic chemicals, the unexposed parts of the paper which are shielded by the subject matter remain white or lighter than the background. The photogram technique is at least as old as the existence of photosensitive surfaces and is easily practised in the darkroom with black and white paper. To produce this series throughout the entire complex of Melk Abbey, it was not only necessary to work at night and extinguish all extraneous light, but also to specifically develop several black frame boxes to transport and house the paper during exposure. With careful and precise handling, archival colour photographic paper was employed, which is normally used to print enlargements from negatives or digital files.