Alison Rossiter has worked with the
materials and processes of light-sensitive,
gelatin silver-based photography
since 1970. Her exhibition Lament pays
homage to the disappearing materials
of analogue photography, as the global
shift from photochemical processing
gives rise to digitization. Rossiter’s
luminous images rely on the intrinsic
qualities of expired photographic
papers from throughout the 20th century
that are now part of our history.
Processing these papers, she reveals
years of incidental exposure, moisture,
humidity and physical disruption,
resulting in a latent imagery that has
been coaxed to life. This project would
have been unimaginable just two
decades ago when graded gelatin silver
papers of every variety were still widely
available. Transforming the medium
that was once used to realistically
document a fleeting moment, Rossiter
abstractly depicts the passage of time.