CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 11/8/2015

Richard Learoyd: Day for Night

"Richard Learoyd's large-scale portrait and still-life photographs captivate viewers with their quiet power, mesmerizing detail and timeless quality," Victoria and Albert curator Martin Barnes writes in Aperture's exquisitely produced, large-format monograph, Richard Learoyd: Day for Night, published to accompany the current exhibition at the V&A. "Visually, they are bold, poised and magnificently beautiful. The combination of the images' veracity and their impeccable, high-gloss surfaces makes them appear almost hyper-real. Part of the reason for their particular look and appeal resides in the innovative and unconventional production process that Learoyd has perfected. Surprisingly, his work is entirely non-digital and is made with obsolete chemical-based photographic materials. Utilizing a room-sized camera obscura, he captures scenarios constructed in his studio directly onto color photographic paper. His compositions test the limits of photographic representation possible today while reflecting on the medium's heritage, its position within the traditional genres of fine art, and its capacity for symbolic interpretation." Featured image is "Agnes with Eyes Closed" (2007).