Manisha Mondal

The early photography process required objects to be stationary for tens of minutes in order to be captured on film. The exposure time being so long, unless you posed people to be static for quarter of an hour or more, they would simply not register on the photographic plate. Even the early photographs of European streets do not show people for this reason. One famous early photo of a Paris street only shows a man getting his boots polished by another person, as these were the only people who were still in the same location for a quarter of an hour. The other people who were walking along the road simply did not show up in the image as the change in light falling on the plate was too transitory. It was only after fast acting photoactive emulsions were invented that you could get impression of moving people on your photographic plate. I am surprised that the exhibition curator does not know if this technical factor explaining the absence of people in all early panoramic photographs.