James Tylor

Photo essay

Lit by a single light, James Tylor sits in his darkened studio holding a daguerreotype photographic plate with gloved hands. He wears black and white Adidas trainers, olive chinos and a Kathmandu winter coat. He has dark short hair.

‘My work attempts to highlight the mistakes, mistranslations and loss of knowledge in the social documentation of Kaurna culture by European colonists.’

JAMES TYLOR

Written by James Tylor
24 January 2022
In Photo Essay
Read time 8 minutes

Kaurna artist JAMES TYLOR uses the historical 19th century photographic process of the Becquerel daguerreotype with the aid of modern technology to create contemporary images that re-contextualise the representation of Australian society and history. Photography was historically used to document First Nations Peoples and the European colonisation of Australia.

Here, James takes us through the process of creating The Darkness of Enlightenment, his new series of daguerreotypes for Ceremony that explores 19th century European recordings of Kaurna language and culture during the British colonisation of the Kaurna nation in South Australia.

Photograph of James Tylor in his studio exposing the silver plate to iodine gas to make it light senstive

1. Exposing the silver plate to iodine gas to make it light sensitive.

James Tylor, Kaurna people, in his studio, work in progress, Kamberri/Canberra, 2021 © the artist

Detail of a proof sheet of 12 daguerreotypes by James Tylor

2. Exposing the daguerreotypes using the contact printing method.

James Tylor, Kaurna people, in his studio, work in progress, Kamberri/Canberra, 2021 © the artist

James Tylor, in olive chinos, grey knit and black and white Adidas trainers, reaches down to touch one of 6 daguerreotypes exposing in the sunshine

3. The Becquerel developing method of exposing the daguerreotype in the UV light of the sun.

James Tylor, Kaurna people, in his studio, work in progress, Kamberri/ Canberra, 2021 © the artist

Detail of the blue flame of a blow torch heating the daguerreotype

4. Heating the daguerreotype with a blowtorch during the gold guilding to stablise the image.


James Tylor, Kaurna people, in his studio, work in progress, Kamberri/ Canberra, 2021 © the artist

Photograph of James Tylor heating the silver plate during the gold gilding process

5. Heating the silver plate during the gold gilding process.

James Tylor, Kaurna people, in his studio, work in progress, Kamberri/ Canberra, 2021 © the artist

Detail of James Tylor's hand holding a finished daguerreotype photographic plate

6. Inspecting the finished daguerreotype, before sealing the image behind museum glass.

James Tylor, Kaurna people, in his studio, work in progress, Kamberri/ Canberra, 2021 © the artist.

Photo graph of James Tylor sealing the silver plate of the daguerreotype behind glass

7. Sealing the silver plate of the daguerreotype behind glass.

James Tylor, Kaurna people, in his studio, work in progress, Kamberri/ Canberra, 2021 © the artist.

Photograph of James Tylor looking at the polished silver plates

8. Looking at the polished silver plates.

James Tylor, Kaurna people, in his studio, work in progress, Kamberri/ Canberra, 2021 © the artist.

See James Tylor's series of daguerreotypes on display in the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial: Ceremony 26 Mar – 31 Jul 2022.

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