Untitled, from the series "Homage to Niépce"

Here Paolo Gioli pays homage to photography pioneer Joseph-Nicéphore Niépce. Gioli made direct Polaroid impressions of an engraved portrait of the cardinal of Amboise that Niépce had used to create several heliographs, his early photographic invention. Following in Niépce’s experimental footsteps, Gioli tested the constraints of mass-produced instant film, cutting the freshly exposed film to extract the image-receiving layer and manipulate it further. Like specimens from the dawn of photography, these unique artworks defy common conceptions of photography—and also call for cautious handling and exhibition.