Recently, upon walking into the Kim Foster Gallery, I was overtaken by larger than life images of young children. There was something unsettling about these works. These were all obviously photographs, but possessed a painterly sheen and held mysterious hues that I have never seen. Darkened, shaded contrasts competed with ghostly, faded highlights. Also, there was something about the expressions on these children’s faces that hit me in a strange way. It was as if I was witnessing something very pure, but couldn’t put my finger on it.
I soon picked up the press release which said: “Mark Kessell’s first solo exhibition at Kim Foster Gallery is from his series of (mostly) blind children titled To Be Determined. Presented as large color prints made from his original daguerreotypes, Kessell shows us children in various expressive, animated and subtly disturbing states. In the deft hands of this former physician, his subjects are a literal and metaphorical exploration of personality development.”
Kessell got these images by photographing more than 200 children (with their parents’ consent) at a school for the blind. To leave doubt in the viewer’s eye, Kessell pointed out that not all of the children in this series are blind. I dare anyone to distinguish between the blind and the sighted in these works. He amazingly captured each child’s sense of self despite (most of them) living in a world where they’ll never see themselves in a mirror, see another person or learn from any visual stimuli.
Being a former physician aside, this man has an eye for the moment like few I’ve ever seen. One could feel the children’s personalities shining through the archaic daguerreotypes. Some of the images were heartbreaking, some exhilarating and others a combination of the two.
How did he achieve this? Besides Kessell’s keen eye, using daguerreotypes had a lot to do with it. Daguerreotypes date back to the 19th century and can be considered the first photographs—once touted as “mirrors with memory.” His painterly quality provided just the right amount of ambiguity.
Kessell is one of the few people in the world who are still using this medium (with good reason). Toxic elements—mercury, bromine and iodine— produce the photographic image on a silver plate. Since no two plates are alike, every image is one of a kind.
The laborious process begins by polishing the plate, first by machine, then by hand, ultimately using a buff. After this, Kessell creates a light-responsive layer concocted from silver iodide (by exposing the plate to iodine vapor). The image transforms into washes of color that seem to intensify and blend simultaneously. It’s crazy chemistry.
There is a shininess to these images that acts as a mirror to the viewer. This perfectly suits Kessell’s intentions. He wants the viewer to subconsciously see themselves in the images. Kessell states: “My art offers no conclusions about the nature of human identity as I have none. I merely offer stimuli for the imagination.”
Through Dec. 17 at Kim Foster Gallery, 529 W. 20th St. (betw. 10th & 11th Aves.), 212-229-0044
Pictured: Closely Attended By Time
