LAB27
LAB27

Pearls of Photographic Publishing from Talbot to Camera Work

5.6 – 7.6.2026

Selected works from the
Dionisio Gavagnin Collection

Curated by
Dionisio Gavagnin

Opening Hours
Saturday and Sunday, 4:30–7:30 PM

Lab27 concludes its 2025/2026 program with a special weekend and a double event.

On Friday, June 5 at 9:00 PM, the exhibition “Pearls of Photographic Publishing from Talbot to Camera Work,” curated by Dionisio Gavagnin, will open. The exhibition presents a journey through the origins of photographic publishing, from the earliest nineteenth-century experiments to the avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century.

On Sunday, June 7 at 4:30 PM, Dionisio Gavagnin will present his recent publication “Data and Theaters” (Campanotto, 2026). The essay explores photography between reality and staging in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dionisio Gavagnin is a scholar of modern and contemporary art and literature, with a particular focus on poetry. He has published two volumes on the history of photography (“Homini & Domini,” 2011; “Fini & Confini,” 2018) and three poetry collections with Campanotto Editore. He has curated exhibitions for museums, foundations, and galleries, and for Lab27 he co-curated with Steve Bisson the exhibitions “From Atget to Basilico: Archaeology in Seeing” (2024) and “America Between Dreams and Disillusionment” (2025).

Without aiming to provide an exhaustive reconstruction of the history of the photobook, the exhibition “Pearls of Photographic Publishing from Talbot to Camera Work” presents 37 rare original photographs taken from publications that profoundly shaped modern visual culture.
The project highlights how photography revolutionized the relationship between image and knowledge. After centuries in which visual representation relied on engravings and drawings, the invention of photography in 1839 introduced a new language perceived as direct testimony of reality. Fundamental to this development was Henry Fox Talbot’s invention of the calotype, which made the multiple reproduction of images possible and gave rise to the first photographic books in history, including “The Pencil of Nature.”
LAB27

Henry Fox Talbot, The Castle of Doune. Scotland, 1842

The exhibition then traces the development of photographic techniques and genres through works by major European and American pioneers: from archaeological explorations in the Middle East and the Mediterranean to documentation of the great world exhibitions, from war reportage to scientific, astronomical, and anthropological imagery. In doing so, it reveals the many roles photography assumed during the nineteenth century: artistic medium, historical document, scientific instrument, and vehicle for social information.
Ample space is also devoted to documentary and social photography, with images depicting urban living conditions in late nineteenth-century London and New York, as well as to Eadweard Muybridge’s studies of movement and the artistic experiments of Pictorialism and the avant-garde movements.
The exhibition concludes symbolically with a Futurist photograph by Anton Giulio Bragaglia, testifying to the transition from photography as a simple recording of reality to an autonomous language of twentieth-century artistic modernity.
LAB27

Adrien Tournachon (Nadar Jeune), Vache Hollandaise, 1856

LAB27

Henry Dixon, White Hart Inn Yard, Southwark, 1875 ca

Prosper et Paul Henry, Photographie Lunaire Corne sud. 28 mars 1880

LAB27

Charles Marville, Rue Charretiére de la rue de Reims, Paris, 1865 ca.

The installation will also remain open on Saturday and Sunday from 4:30 to 7:30 PM for visits. Free admission.

Pearls of Photographic Publishing from Talbot to Camera Work

5.6 – 7.6.2026

Selected works from the
Dionisio Gavagnin Collection

Curated by
Dionisio Gavagnin

Opening Hours
Saturday and Sunday, 4:30–7:30 PM

Lab27 concludes its 2025/2026 program with a special weekend and a double event.

On Friday, June 5 at 9:00 PM, the exhibition “Pearls of Photographic Publishing from Talbot to Camera Work,” curated by Dionisio Gavagnin, will open. The exhibition presents a journey through the origins of photographic publishing, from the earliest nineteenth-century experiments to the avant-garde movements of the early twentieth century.

On Sunday, June 7 at 4:30 PM, Dionisio Gavagnin will present his recent publication “Data and Theaters” (Campanotto, 2026). The essay explores photography between reality and staging in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Dionisio Gavagnin is a scholar of modern and contemporary art and literature, with a particular focus on poetry. He has published two volumes on the history of photography (“Homini & Domini,” 2011; “Fini & Confini,” 2018) and three poetry collections with Campanotto Editore. He has curated exhibitions for museums, foundations, and galleries, and for Lab27 he co-curated with Steve Bisson the exhibitions “From Atget to Basilico: Archaeology in Seeing” (2024) and “America Between Dreams and Disillusionment” (2025).

Without aiming to provide an exhaustive reconstruction of the history of the photobook, the exhibition “Pearls of Photographic Publishing from Talbot to Camera Work” presents 37 rare original photographs taken from publications that profoundly shaped modern visual culture.
The project highlights how photography revolutionized the relationship between image and knowledge. After centuries in which visual representation relied on engravings and drawings, the invention of photography in 1839 introduced a new language perceived as direct testimony of reality. Fundamental to this development was Henry Fox Talbot’s invention of the calotype, which made the multiple reproduction of images possible and gave rise to the first photographic books in history, including “The Pencil of Nature.”
LAB27

Henry Fox Talbot, The Castle of Doune. Scotland, 1842

The exhibition then traces the development of photographic techniques and genres through works by major European and American pioneers: from archaeological explorations in the Middle East and the Mediterranean to documentation of the great world exhibitions, from war reportage to scientific, astronomical, and anthropological imagery. In doing so, it reveals the many roles photography assumed during the nineteenth century: artistic medium, historical document, scientific instrument, and vehicle for social information.
Ample space is also devoted to documentary and social photography, with images depicting urban living conditions in late nineteenth-century London and New York, as well as to Eadweard Muybridge’s studies of movement and the artistic experiments of Pictorialism and the avant-garde movements.
The exhibition concludes symbolically with a Futurist photograph by Anton Giulio Bragaglia, testifying to the transition from photography as a simple recording of reality to an autonomous language of twentieth-century artistic modernity.
LAB27

Adrien Tournachon (Nadar Jeune), Vache Hollandaise, 1856

LAB27

Henry Dixon, White Hart Inn Yard, Southwark, 1875 ca

Prosper et Paul Henry, Photographie Lunaire Corne sud. 28 mars 1880

LAB27

Charles Marville, Rue Charretiére de la rue de Reims, Paris, 1865 ca.

The installation will also remain open on Saturday and Sunday from 4:30 to 7:30 PM for visits. Free admission.

exhibitions

Events

Info

Contacts

exhibitions

Events

Info

Contacts

Powered by
►
Necessary cookies enable essential site features like secure log-ins and consent preference adjustments. They do not store personal data.
None
►
Functional cookies support features like content sharing on social media, collecting feedback, and enabling third-party tools.
None
►
Analytical cookies track visitor interactions, providing insights on metrics like visitor count, bounce rate, and traffic sources.
None
►
Advertisement cookies deliver personalized ads based on your previous visits and analyze the effectiveness of ad campaigns.
None
Powered by