Heliographie, Przemek Zajfert, forever-and ever, for my Sons
Heliography “Centre Pompidou, Midday”, created in August 2013 at 15 Rue Beaubourg, Paris. Handcrafted on aluminum with Niépce’s original 1822–1827 process using Bitume de Judée. Unique collector’s artwork.
Heliography “Centre Pompidou, Midday”, created in August 2013 at 15 Rue Beaubourg, Paris. Handcrafted on aluminum with Niépce’s original 1822–1827 process using Bitume de Judée. Unique collector’s artwork.
Heliography “Centre Pompidou, Midday”, created in August 2013 at 15 Rue Beaubourg, Paris. Handcrafted on aluminum with Niépce’s original 1822–1827 process using Bitume de Judée. Unique collector’s artwork.
Heliography “Centre Pompidou, Midday”, created in August 2013 at 15 Rue Beaubourg, Paris. Handcrafted on aluminum with Niépce’s original 1822–1827 process using Bitume de Judée. Unique collector’s artwork. Internegativ
Heliography “Centre Pompidou, Midday”, created in August 2013 at 15 Rue Beaubourg, Paris. Handcrafted on aluminum with Niépce’s original 1822–1827 process using Bitume de Judée. Unique collector’s artwork.

Centre Pompidou, Midday, Heliography Unique

Original heliograph: unique piece, created following the process of Joseph Nicéphore Niépce (1822/1827)
Intermediate negative: from the development process – exposed once on a sunny day in September 2024
Street View print of the original location with the selected image section marked
Handmade A5 storage box
Dimensions: Heliograph approx. 9 × 13.5 cm, mounted on passe-partout board (14 × 19 cm)
Materials: Aluminum plate, Bitumen of Judea, lavender oil
Edition: Unique piece, signed and dated. 
Sold – Private Collection, France

The Story Behind “Centre Pompidou, Midday”
The image was captured in August 2013 on Rue Beaubourg in Paris, recorded by the Google camera at the edge of the Centre Pompidou. In August 2024, I rephotographed the detail and created an internegative from it. This was used to expose the aluminium plate for six hours on a sunny day. The plate, measuring 10 × 15 cm, had been coated beforehand with asphalt emulsion. The heliograph was made using the process developed by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1822–1827.

Production process video