NYU Tisch Professor Presents Historic Print Archive in Photography Exhibition
A photography exhibition at NYU Tisch, organized by a professor, explores the intellectual heritage of the medium through a historic print archive. It starts with Ibn Al-Haytham, an 11th-century Muslim scholar, who, during his imprisonment, witnessed light forming moving images—recognized as the first camera obscura. His research culminated in a seven-volume work on optics, establishing the foundation of empirical science. The exhibition progresses to the 18th century, showcasing how natural philosophers embraced his observational techniques over established dogmas. It traces the development of lenses from Ibn Al-Haytham's aperture to the Newtonian telescope, highlighting the interplay between science and art and connecting medieval Islamic science to the ideas of the European Enlightenment, underlining photography's scientific origins.
Key facts
- An NYU Tisch professor is showcasing a historic print archive in a new photography exhibition.
- The exhibition connects photography's origins to Ibn Al-Haytham, an 11th-century Muslim scholar.
- Ibn Al-Haytham's darkened prison cell was the first documented camera obscura.
- He wrote a 7-volume treatise on optics after his release.
- His work is described as the birth of empirical science.
- His ideas became the central thesis of 18th-century natural philosophers.
- The photon is a massless messenger particle that conveys information about something else.
- The lens evolved through iterations including the Newtonian telescope.
- The archive illustrates the connection between light, vision, and photography.
Entities
Artists
- Ibn Al-Haytham
Institutions
- NYU Tisch