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by Dan
Art & Photography / November 22, 2012
The Disappearance of Darkness by photographer Robert Burley (released this week) is a remarkable record of the abandonment and destruction of film-based photography.
Burley, who teaches at the Ryerson School of Image Arts, began the project in Toronto in 2005 when he discovered the century-old Kodak Canada complex was being shut down. He quickly realized that the plant closure was just tip of the iceberg and travelled around the world to photograph places where the alchemy of the photographic process had been practiced over the past century—from the Polaroid plant in Waltham, Massachusetts to the Kodak-Pathe plant in Chalon-sur-Saône, France, the birthplace in 1827 of photography itself.
The most poignant image in the book for me, however, is this photograph taken on a street corner on Queen West in Toronto. This studio was just around the corner from our office. If you recognize it, you'll know that is near Trintity Bellwoods park, almost directly opposite TYPE books. It is now been replaced by the patisserie Nadège. They make very nice treats there of course, but looking at this photograph, it is hard not to think something has also been lost...
In this short video, Burley talks more about the book and this fascinating project:
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