Vignette Gras, 2020

title: Fig. 009 "Vignette Gras"
material: JPEG size: a4 year: 2020

"Test Gras" is an REmax Appropriation Art Piece (RAAP) on a work by Constant Dullaart “Jennifer in Paradise”. Jennifer is replaced by the first ever taken photo. View from the Window at Le Gras (French: Point de vue du Gras) is the oldest surviving photograph. It was created by French inventor Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 in Saint-Loup-de-Varennes, France, and shows parts of the buildings and surrounding countryside of his estate, Le Gras [fr], as seen from a high window. The image was created by heliography, a process which Niépce had invented around 1822, and which uses the hardening of bitumen in light to record an image after washing off the remaining unhardened material. View from the Window at Le Gras. Also a REmax on the text found on the fotomuseum website (See website link below): Ax710 recovers the first photo in history, manipulates and redistributes it, making it widespread again.

The world's first photograph, known as "View from the Window at Le Gras," was taken by Joseph Nicéphore Niépce in 1826 or 1827. This image is significant as it marks the beginning of photography as we know it today.

Creation Process
Technique: Niépce used a process called heliography, which involved coating a pewter plate with a light-sensitive substance called bitumen of Judea. Camera: He placed the coated plate in a camera obscura, a device that projects an image through a small opening. Exposure Time: The exposure lasted between eight hours to two days, allowing light to harden the bitumen where it struck the plate. Result: After the exposure, the unhardened bitumen was washed away, revealing a faint image of the view outside his second-story window in Burgundy, France.

Historical Significance
First Permanent Image: This photograph is recognized as the oldest surviving image captured with a camera, making it a crucial milestone in the history of photography. Legacy: Niépce's work laid the foundation for future developments in photography, including the daguerreotype process introduced by his partner, Louis Daguerre, in 1839.

This pioneering effort not only captured a moment in time but also initiated a revolution in visual documentation and artistic expression.

Behind the placeholder image lie the initial ideals and promises of digital culture, embodied by the manipulation allowed by the filters of Affinity Photo. "Test Paradise" reveals the creative utopian vision behind tools that allowed free exchange and cultural expression in a world still unaware of surveillance and control of contemporary imaging systems. The photograph and its endless variations become a nostalgic ode to a historical moment and a reminder of the cultural hegemony hidden behind digital images. Finally the artist inscribes a secret visual message, encoded within the print through a steganographic encryption, exploiting the possibility for the visual placeholder to carry a message within it.

Filters are used from the app Pixelmator in no particular order

#Gras #paradise #test #Constant Dullaart #RAAP #first #vignette

https://www.flickr.com/photos/80989356@N06/albums/72157654753941316/