The Real Image
Since the very beginnings of the medium, artists have used the apparent documentary quality of photomechanically reproduced images as a tool for manipulation and play. Whether altered mechanically in the darkroom or digitally, the “real” image is often subsequently manipulated for a variety of purposes, acquiring a new meaning that was not part of the original intention at the moment the shutter was released. In other cases, photographic documentation appropriated from the media is used artistically in montages, serving as a medium of wordless political critique.
As part of the broader exhibition series Conversations on Reproductions, which juxtaposes the history of photomechanical reproduction with contemporary artistic reflections on it, this exhibition explores photography’s power of persuasion. The installation examines how the meaning of images changes when still photographs are incorporated into time-based media, and how the photographic image—and its seemingly documentary nature—can challenge our understanding of the world as we (seemingly) know it.
Info
Artists | Sami Al-Salamoni, Valentýna Janů, Kvet Nguyen, André Feliciano
Curator | Meghan Forbes
Duration | 9 September – 22 November 2026
Opening | 8 September 2026, 6 pm
Venue | Center for Contemporary Arts Prague, Galerie Kurzor
Address | Dukelských hrdinů 500/25a, 170 00 Prague
Opening hours | Wed–Sun; 12:00–6:00 pm
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