Victorian Photography Technique Utilized for Devon Exhibition

An exhibition of photographs, drawing inspiration from Devon folklore and employing a Victorian-era technique, is being presented in Plymouth. The project, titled Magic Mirror, invited participants to contribute their creative input for the images, drawing a parallel with the collaborative nature of folk tale development. This community-focused initiative represents the most recent endeavor by artist and folklorist Abigail Tinnion. While a collection of her images that delve into local legends is currently exhibited at Ocean Studios within the Royal William Yard, Ms. Tinnion expressed a desire for this new project to introduce an additional dimension. Ms. Tinnion stated: “For me folklore is a study of community creativity, community belief and ideas, and I really like to incorporate that into my practice.” The photographs, which featured members of the public who were invited to participate, underwent a double exposure process to evoke the impression of ghostly apparitions. This method was employed by photographers during the 19th Century, who asserted that they had captured images of ghosts. Despite these claims having been widely disproven, Ms. Tinnion found the creative aspect of this approach compelling. She added: “The supernatural inspires a lot of creativity. It makes you think about the world imaginatively and doing this is possible with any camera. “It just involves not being self-conscious.” The completed photographs were exhibited at Ocean Studios, located within the Royal William Yard in Plymouth.