Surreal Illusionism. Photographic Fantasies of the Early 20th Century

Curator: Dr. Harri Kalha

Surreal Illusionism. Photographic Fantasies of the Early 20th Century

The late 1890s saw the emergence of a number of factories in Europe that produced postcards with real photographs, by using mechanised exposure and development processes. Unlike today, the photographs were not printed on the cards. The production of photographic postcards, also known as «real photo postcards», became a sizable industry, and the end products were distributed as far away as South America and Australia. The phenomenon only lasted for two decades, but resulted in millions of photographs.

The golden age of photographic postcards drew on early 20th-century urban popular culture. The rise of the cinema, the modern culture of sun-bathing, eroticism, circus and variety shows inspired the imagery of the cards. Technical innovations, such as the aeroplane, stimulated the imagination. In the 1920s and 1930s, a group of avant-garde artists and poets began to draw inspiration from dreams, fantasy and the depths of the unconscious. An art movement known as surrealism emerged. The photographic postcards presented at the exhibition were «surrealist» before the word was even invented!

From today’s perspective, photographic postcards are fascinating particularly because of the photomontage techniques used. The combination of images and drawings, and multiple exposure were some of the techniques used in industrial photography a hundred years before «photoshopping». Because industrial colour photography was yet to be invented, the cards were coloured by hand. It is the craft that makes the images unique.

The exhibition is organised in five thematic sections: Forward, Fotomontage, Fascination, Fancy and Fun. The curator of the exhibition is art researcher, docent Harri Kalha.