A Touring Exhibition Celebrating Two Centuries of Cameraless Photography
Studies in Photography Gallery, Edinburgh
26 June – 8 August 2026
Space to Breathe, Bowhouse, Fife
15 August – 6 September 2026
Featuring: Angela Chalmers, Constanza Dessain, Nicolas Grospierre, Alexander Hamilton, Paul Kenny, Leena Nammari, Jo de Pear, Pia Östlund, Aindreas Scholz
To mark the 200th anniversary of photography, Studies in Photography and Space to Breathe presents Without a Camera: 200 Years of Photography, 1826–2026, a touring exhibition exploring photography beyond the lens. At Bowhouse, the artist’s work will be part of the Summer 2026 exhibition program, called Land & Sea.
Bringing together nine contemporary artists from across Europe and the Middle East, the exhibition celebrates the enduring practice of cameraless photography. Through photograms, cyanotypes, prints, direct impressions, and experimental light-based processes, the artists reveal photography as a medium shaped by light, chemistry, time, and material transformation.
The exhibition takes its inspiration from the origins of photography itself. In 1826, Nicéphore Niépce created what is widely recognised as the world's first permanent photograph, using a process he called heliography, or "sun drawing." Long before cameras became central to photographic practice, images were being formed directly through the action of light on photosensitive surfaces.
Two centuries later, Without a Camera reconnects with that pioneering spirit. The featured artists continue to push the boundaries of photographic practice, creating works that engage with nature, memory, ecology, place, and process while challenging conventional ideas of what a photograph can be. At a landmark moment in photography's history, Without a Camera offers a fresh perspective on the medium's past, present, and future.
Aindreas Scholz - And So I Watch You From Afar#04
Origins
The foundations of photography can be traced to the early 19th century and the pioneering work of Nicéphore Niépce, who developed one of the first photographic processes known as heliography, meaning “sun drawing.”
Around 1822, Niépce discovered that bitumen—a naturally occurring substance—would harden when exposed to light. By coating surfaces such as metal, glass, or stone with this material and exposing them to sunlight, he was able to create permanent images. After exposure, the unhardened areas could be dissolved, leaving behind a fixed image formed purely by the action of light.
In the summer of 1826, Niépce achieved a historic breakthrough: the first permanent photographic image captured from nature. Known as View from the Window at Le Gras, this image required an extraordinary exposure time—likely several days—marking both the technical challenge and the poetic patience of early photographic experimentation.
From Experiment to Legacy
Niépce’s heliographic process also led to early forms of photo-based printing techniques, including photolithography and photogravure. His methods allowed images to be reproduced without traditional hand engraving, laying the groundwork for photography as both an artistic and reproductive medium.
Although some of his earliest works have been lost, surviving prints from the mid-1820s—such as images of a man with a horse and a woman with a spinning wheel—remain as powerful testaments to this revolutionary moment. These works are among the first examples of images created not by hand, but by light itself.
Cameraless Photography Today
Two centuries later, artists continue to explore and reinvent cameraless processes. From photograms to chemical abstractions, the artists in this exhibition engage directly with materials, light, and time—echoing Niépce’s original experiments while pushing the medium into new conceptual and aesthetic territories.
This exhibition invites viewers to consider photography not just as a means of representation, but as a physical, experimental, and deeply expressive practice.
Free entry | All welcome
