Heliography Project 1827–2027

I use the oldest photographic process to preserve moments that one machine captured by chance and another has long since forgotten.

I move through Google Street View, searching for moments that were not meant to be seen. When I find one, I translate it into an early photographic process: heliography after Niépce, 1827.

Bitumen on tin plate. Sunlight. Once. No repetition.
The material is asphalt—the same substance the street is made of, on which the image was recorded. The street returns to the image.

Many of these moments no longer exist. They have been overwritten or deleted.
Each work is unique: one box, one plate, one moment. 1827–2027.

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The Spectrum of the Real Indexicality, Authorship, and the Limits of Photographic Knowledge, Heliography Project 1827–2027

Venice, April 2013. Photographer. Heliography, September 2024. Exposure: six hours of sunlight. Unique. ↗ Street View still exists.

Heliographie, der Wanderer, Shibuya, Tokio, Mai 2015, Unikat, hergestellt nach dem Verfahren von Joseph Nicéphore Niépce aus dem Jahr 1822.

Tokyo, May 2015. The Wanderer. Heliography, September 2023. Exposure: six hours of sunlight. Unique. Google Street View has been deleted – this is the last image.

Heliography “Two Women with Phones”, created in May 2018 at 149 Rue Saint-Dominique, Paris. Handcrafted on aluminum with Niépce’s original 1822–1827 process using Bitume de Judée. Unique collector’s artwork.

Paris, May 2018. Two Women with Smartphones. Heliography, September 2024. Exposure: six hours of sunlight. Unique. ↗ Street View still exists.