Since the invention of photography around 1839, it has become ubiquitous in our daily lives thanks to the availability of powerful instant cameras in our pockets. Photographs may literally be “written with light,” capturing a moment and place in an instant flash. Yet, they are also so much more: they are intricate material objects entangled in systems of extraction, motion and collection.  

Photo / Object gathers a wide range of processes and formats from repositories across the University of Delaware’s campus. These photographs take up space and invite us to remember that they are real objects made from physical materials, enabling us to revisit our relationship with this artistic medium.