{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O251311"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O251311/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JG3550/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2016JG3550/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2016JG3550","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O251311","accessionNumber":"E.301-2009","objectType":"Photograph","titles":[{"title":"Mirror","type":"assigned by artist"}],"summaryDescription":"Richard Learoyd’s photographs are unique images made with a specifically built camera.  The camera is the size of a small room, in which the artists pins direct colour positive paper (known as dye destruction, Cibachrome or Ilfachrome) to the back wall and views the image, much as inside a camera obscura. An image cast by a lens fixed to the front wall is projected onto the paper and the resulting exposed sheet is fed directly into a print processing machine connected to the  walk-in camera / dark room.  The fact that this process is a direct positive on a large scale, with no  print enlargement from a negative or transparency, results in an image of astounding clarity, detail and lack of film-grain.  The effect is almost hyper real.\r\n\r\nUnlike in most conventional photography, objects and people are brought to the immovable camera and placed and arranged in front.  He also works outside the convention of a photographic sequence or series, but in a cohesive grouping of singular images. Learoyd’s seemingly simple or restrained compositional arrangements belie complex conceptual and philosophical ideas, many of which question the nature of optics and the practice of photography itself.  The chosen subject matter however does not overtly attempt to fulfil an externalised cultural or theoretical brief, but carries its message initially through sheer visual impact. \r\n\r\nThis image  of a mirror on a plinth (the quintessential still-life prop) hints at the trope of photography itself as a philosophical mirror held up to the real world.  The subject reflects back the method of its recording – the out-of-focus black rectangle of parts of the camera,  the full size of which is implied by the negative space outside the scope of the reflection.  The pin-sharp focus is trained on the surface and scratches on the surface of the mirror glass.  Learoyd’s unique process, yielding incredible detail and descriptive power, is used as a self-reflexive device.  In this way, the image could be considerd as a kind of self portrait, or at least a portrait of a profession or the process of photography.","physicalDescription":"Colour photograph of a mirror on a plinth.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Learoyd, Richard","id":"A26981"},"association":{"text":"photographer","id":"x43821"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"photographic paper","id":"AAT14190"},{"text":"aluminium","id":"AAT11015"},{"text":"oak","id":"AAT12264"},{"text":"glass","id":"AAT10797"}],"techniques":[{"text":"silver-dye bleach process","id":"AAT133465"},{"text":"mounting","id":"AAT81370"},{"text":"framing","id":"AAT240903"},{"text":"glazing (glass)","id":"AAT53676"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Dye destruction print mounted on aluminium, framed in hand-finished oak frame with GM Museum glazing","categories":[{"text":"Photographs","id":"THES48910"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"PDP","id":"THES48595"},"images":["2016JG3550"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"A","id":"THES304203"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"photograph","id":"AAT46300"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"London","id":"x28980"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2008","earliest":"2008-01-01","latest":"2008-12-31"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Given by Richard Learoyd","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"46","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"framed","note":""},{"dimension":"Length","value":"46","unit":"in","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"framed","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"Richard Learoyd (born 1966) makes photographs inside a room-sized\r\ncamera obscura. Over the last ten years, he has perfected this unconventional process in which an image is exposed directly onto photographic paper inside the room. The results are one-off prints\r\nwith astonishing detail and an impressive physical presence.","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Photograph, colour, a mirror on a plinth, 'Mirror', Richard Learoyd, London, 2008.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[{"text":"mirror","id":"AAT37682"}],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[{"text":"Small Mirror on Plinth\r\n2008\r\nThe quality of introspection that permeates Learoyd’s work\r\nis made explicit through his depiction of mirrors. The mirrors\r\ncan be read as a symbol of self-reflection, or of the distorting\r\nmirror of photography itself.\r\nDye destruction print\r\nGiven by Richard Learoyd\r\nMuseum no. E.301-2009","date":{"text":"2016","earliest":"2016-01-01","latest":"2016-12-31"}}],"partNumbers":["E.301-2009"],"accessionNumberNum":"301","accessionNumberPrefix":"E","accessionYear":2009,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2026-03-04","recordCreationDate":"2009-06-23","availableToBook":true}}