RE-ENCHANTED IMAGES

The Master’s thesis Re-Enchanted Images: Natural Pigments in Photographic Practices, delves into the history of traditional pigment extraction, the chemical properties and processes connected to this art, as well as the connections and overlaps such pigments hold to the practice of photography and photographic reproduction.
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This thesis is filled with beautifully weird facts about colors and pigments, and how they have made their way out of art and fashion, and into general human history including wars, colonialism and nuclear disasters. The last part of the thesis additionally deals with dis-enchantment, namely society‘s shift towards a more scientific way of thinking and away from the magical and mystical, and the connection this might have to pigment extraction and similar traditional practices.

This is the result of months of hermit-like living, reading through dozens of historical books, some of them from BCE times, and going slightly mad during the process. Many of the facts and stories mentioned have lingered with me, but they are often too specific or weird to actually be part of a conversation. So please feel free to give it a read; I am always open to feedback and questions!