01: Study
Deux prises de vue par moi-même. Yport, Seine-Maritime, sur la plage, 1931 Épreuve gélatino-argentique 24 × 17,7 cm MK2 Kreations © Yossi Raviv-Moi Ver Archive Photo © Centre Pompidou/Bertrand Prevost
Double Exposure
With roots tracing back to the Victorian era, where it was used in 'spirit photography,' double exposure—a photography technique that overlays two images—invites viewers to perceive multiple moments simultaneously, creating a dialogue between different temporalities.
Early practitioners like Lewis Hine and later Duane Michals utilized this technique to explore themes of memory and identity, while the interplay of surrealism and cubism in the early 20th century further shaped its development. By the mid to late 1900s, double exposure gained prominence in both commercial and artistic photography, continuing to inspire contemporary artists with its ability to layer meaning and evoke emotion.
Double exposure image at Back Rock Mill taken in 1906
Vivien Solari, London, 2018 © Suffo Moncloa
Dora Maar (French, 1907-1997)
Double Portrait with Hat
c. 1936-37
© Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris
Francesca Woodman
Untitled (seated nude double exposure)
1973-1975
“Photography deals exquisitely with appearances, but nothing is what it appears to be.”
- Duane Michals
The Spirit Leaves the Body
1968
Seven gelatin silver prints with hand-applied text
3 3/8 x 5 inches (each image)
In 1895, Edgar Degas forgot to change the photographic plates, resulting in accidental double exposures that add a unique dimension to his images.
Nick George, a visual artist focusing on photography, explores themes of nostalgia and mystery by working with secondhand cameras containing undeveloped film.
After a three-year journey through the Eastern Mediterranean, Joseph-Philibert Girault de Prangey returned to France with over a thousand daguerreotypes, capturing the earliest known photos of Greece, Egypt, and other regions. His innovative use of larger plates, exposed with multiple images and cut down, allowed him to create one of the world’s first photographic archives.