Thomas More College | Eva G. Farris Gallery

Exhibition

Shadows of Lacock

Oct. 3 – 31, 2014
Mon–Thurs: 7:45 am–10 pm | Fri: 7:45 am–4:15 pm | Sat: 10 am–4 pm | Sun: 2 pm–8 pm

With Shadows of Lacock, Photographer Laura Hartford reveals the magical aura of photography’s history in shadowy mimicry. Ms. Hartford uses the calotype paper negative process invented in 1840 by William Henry Fox Talbot.  It was Talbot’s goal to firmly “fix” the shadow — what he described as “the most transitory of things” — created by the camera obscura. After years of experimentation with silver salts on paper, Talbot developed the first photographic negatives. The fix for “all that is fleeting and momentary.” The Shadows of Lacock images are a reflection on the nature and birth of photography, and they explore the calotype as a unique instrument with which to capture the passage of time. The central images are those Ms. Hartford created during a month-long residency at Mr. Talbot’s ancestral home, Lacock Abbey in Wiltshire, England. Lacock itself is steeped in layers of history, originally built as a convent in the thirteenth century. Like many photographers working in historic processes, Ms. Hartford is interested in the aesthetic character of the medium as well as her own “effort to capture something of the feeling one has in this place, a reaction to its legacy, its ghosts and its shadows.”

Lecture

Oct. 24, 2014
Science Lecture Hall | Library Building | Thomas More College, 333 Thomas More Parkway | Crestview Hills, KY 41017

Photographer Laura Hartford will present an Artist Talk on Lacock Abbey and the birth of photography on Friday, October 24, at 3 pm in the Science Lecture Hall of the Thomas More Library Building. The Information about William Henry Fox Talbot, his photographic circle and the invention of the calotype will be included.  This Artist Talk will be immediately followed by an Artist's Reception for the Opening of Shadows of Lacock at 4 pm in the Eva G. Farris Gallery, also in the Library.  

Laura Hartford received her BFA from the University of Louisville and her MFA from Indiana University, Bloomington.  An associate professor at Bellarmine University, Ms. Hartford chairs the Bellarmine Art Department. 

Reservation Information:

Free and open to the public.

Event

Oct. 24, 2014
Eva G. Farris Gallery, Main Entrance of the Thomas More Library Building

An Artist's Reception for Photographer Laura Hartford will accompany the Exhibition Opening of Shadows of Lacock. Immediately after Ms. Hartford's Artist Talk (at 3 pm in the Lecture Hall). Refreshments provided.

Reservation Information:

Free and open to the public.