Marta Djourina

Foxfire

Languages of Light

Marta Djourina (b. Sofia, 1991; lives and works in Berlin) conducts complex photographic experiments in the darkroom to investigate the nature of light and the interactions between sense perceptions, natural phenomena, the body, and visual information. She has developed a hybrid genre she calls “filtergram” or “blind painting.” Both performative and poetic, the gestures with which she probes the potentials of analog photography engender luminous and intensely colorful compositions. Djourina manipulates the light-sensitive photographic paper in manifold ways and exposes it to external factors. For example, she has shipped pinhole cameras in the mail, in a suitcase, or pinned to a carrier pigeon. Whether she harnesses the power of the sun, point-shaped light sources, bioluminescent organisms like algae and fungi, or historic techniques like Kirlian photography—Djourina is indefatigable in her quest for extraordinary light phenomena. The book reflects her way of working in its physical facture; the cover was designed with phosphorescent pigments.

Foxfire is the first publication to offer a comprehensive overview of Marta Djourina’s art. Essays by Dr. Sarah Frost, Miriam Jesske, Gregory Volk, and Babette Werner provide introductions to the series and analyze the artist’s creative processes.