salt prints

2024, Photographic development with salt, toned with gold, series of 6 prints

The salt print series forms a new, speculative insertion into the archive. As Hylozoic/Desires conducted their research into the forgotten history of inland customs line, a 4000km barrier that largely consisted of a hedge and traversed the Indian subcontinent, they uncovered textual descriptions of the historical Hedge, but no visual evidence. Using the archives as prompts, they began generating imagery to return this history to our collective sources. Some images originate from the fictional universe of the video work, shot at Sambhar Lake, an important British outpost for the collection of salt; others are generated using AI image generators. By not specifying the distinction between re-enactments and artificial generations, the artists question the role of truth, the responsibility of the archive and the disappearance of knowledge that no longer serves those in power.  

The generated images were converted into salt prints, a method of photographic development used in the Victorian era, before salt was replaced with albumen. The prints were then toned with pure gold, bringing salt’s value to the fore.

the salt print series was originally commissioned by Somerset House, London for the exhibition ‘Salt Cosmologies’. the prints were produced in collaboration with maze collective, new delhi.