{"id":7415,"date":"2026-06-21T19:41:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T19:41:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ericpetr.net\/blogue\/in-situ-kinetic-photography-an-approach-to-long-exposure\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T20:57:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T20:57:16","slug":"in-situ-kinetic-photography-an-approach-to-long-exposure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ericpetr.net\/en\/blogue\/in-situ-kinetic-photography-an-approach-to-long-exposure\/","title":{"rendered":"IN SITU KINETIC PHOTOGRAPHY: AN APPROACH TO LONG-EXPOSURE"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"In<\/a>
Matter \u00a9 \u00c9ric Petr, 2018 | Nikon F3, Ilford FP4 film<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is \u00ab In situ kinetic photography<\/strong> \u00bb, \u00ab Photographie cin\u00e9tique in situ<\/strong> \u00bb or \u00ab ISK photo<\/strong> \u00bb ? Ilt is a concept I developed in the early 2000s to express an intention.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

An intention or, more precisely, that of developing a body of work exploring the recording of light as photographic matter, in which the usual references of time and space become profoundly altered.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This approach was based on the intention to:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u30fbto work with a single exposure, without post-processing or multiple exposure, in order to remain as close as possible to the recorded subjective experience,
\u30fbto use relatively long exposure times and, depending on the composition, ranging from a few seconds to several minutes, in order to allow for a condensation of emotions, light and matter,
\u30fbto intentionally move the camera during the recording of the image, in order to recontextualise the scene according to another order, that of an aesthetic and inner experience,
\u30fbto adjust, when necessary, focus distance or aperture settings during the exposure, in order to open up the field of possibilities within this experience,
\u30fband to construct the image on site, \u201cin situ\u201d, so that this encounter between the observer (the photographer) and the place, along with what emanates from it, is not disrupted by external factors unrelated to the scene and the experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The intention is therefore no longer simply to show movement, as in the classical principle of long exposure \u2014 \u201cI move the camera to create blur\u201d \u2014 but rather to compose an image as a temporal condensation of a place<\/strong>. JI could even compare this to a kind of \u201cmicro-film recorded on a single image\u201d, or to a form of \u201cechography of a place\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through this process, I aim to explore the gap that emerges between:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u30fbthe observation of a scene \u201cin situ\u201d, using a camera as a measuring instrument,\u30fband the recording of this scene as obtained by the observer (the photographer), who takes as reference both his feelings at the precise moment of taking the photographs and external elements such as light, matter and the energy of the place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This gap reflects an introspection produced by an unconscious form of reflection carried out by the observer (the photographer), in resonance with the surrounding elements. The resulting recording reveals an image that expresses the inner gaze of a scene experienced from the outside. <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"In<\/a>
Spiritual Odysseys \u00a9 \u00c9ric Petr, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What does the concept \u201cIn situ kinetic photography\u201d refer to?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This concept is based on the principle of long exposure and, although I have devoted much of my reflection to it as a visual artist photographer, long exposure is also a subject on which many other artists and photographers have worked. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among them, I will mention in a non-exhaustive way some of the most well-known, such as Gustave Le Gray (1820\u20131884), painter and photographer, Alfred Stieglitz (1864\u20131946), Man Ray (1890\u20131976), experimental photographer, L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Moholy-Nagy (1895\u20131946), Josef Sudek (1896\u20131976), Brassa\u00ef (1899\u20131984), Ernst Haas (1921\u20131986), Barbara Kasten (1936), Michael Wesely (1945), Eric Staller (1947), Hiroshi Sugimoto (1948), Abelardo Morell (1948), Uta Barth (1956), Mitch Dobrowner (1956), Michael Kenna (1957), Francesca Woodman (1958\u20131981), Tokihiro Sato (1957), and among my contemporaries Adam Fuss (1961), Alexey Titarenko (1962), Thierry Cohen (1963), and Rut Blees Luxemburg (1967). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is interesting to observe here is that, beyond long exposure, each artist has appropriated this shooting technique to create very different worlds.
However, while writing this article and revisiting each artist\u2019s work, I can see emerging from these long exposures a genuine, lasting visual language, rather than a mere effect, which I could map as a kind of cartography of the different currents or aesthetics that have been created. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. The pioneers of photographic time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
    <\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Reveal<\/strong>Long exposure conceived as a technical necessity, as photography at the time required it. It becomes a visual language identifiable within its own chronology. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Gustave Le Gray (1820\u20131884)Alfred Stieglitz (1864\u20131946)Brassa\u00ef (1899\u20131984)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Here, long exposure first emerges from a material constraint, before becoming a visual vocabulary.Le Gray quickly understands that exposure is not merely a form of recording, but a construction of the visible.Stieglitz transforms atmosphere and weather into expressive matter.Brassa\u00ef reveals the city as a nocturnal theatre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2. Experimenters of light<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
      <\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      To experiment<\/strong>Long exposure conceived as a laboratory of the medium, with all its possible axes of experimentation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Man Ray (1890\u20131976) L\u00e1szl\u00f3 Moholy-Nagy (1895\u20131946)Barbara Kasten (1936)Adam Fuss (1961)Eric Staller (1947)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Here, we are no longer simply photographing the world: we are photographing the very conditions of vision itself. Duration becomes a luminous experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      3. The contemplatives of landscape and extended time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
        <\/ol>\n\n\n\n

        Contemplate<\/strong>Long exposure as a temporal condensation of the real.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        Josef Sudek (1896\u20131976)Hiroshi Sugimoto (1948)Michael Kenna (1957)Mitch Dobrowner (1956)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        The subject becomes less the place than the duration of the place.Sugimoto pushes this to a quasi-metaphysics of time.Kenna transforms the landscape into silent memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

        4. The architects of accumulated time<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
          <\/ol>\n\n\n\n

          Accumulate<\/strong>Photography as a temporal accumulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Michael Wesely (1945)Abelardo Morell (1948)Thierry Cohen (1963)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          Here, the image is no longer an instant but a temporal construction.In Wesely\u2019s work, time becomes almost a building material.In Morell\u2019s work, place and its projection merge.In Cohen\u2019s work, multiple temporalities come together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

          \"In<\/a>
          Hikari \u00a9 \u00c9ric Petr, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

          5. The photographers of absent presence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
            <\/ol>\n\n\n\n

            Transform<\/strong>Long exposure as a human trace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Francesca Woodman (1958\u20131981)Alexey Titarenko (1962)Rut Blees Luxemburg (1967)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            Time does not erase: it transforms presence.Woodman works on the disappearance of the body.Titarenko focuses on social dissolution.Rut Blees Luxemburg explores urban memory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

            6. Phenomenologists of gesture and space<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
              <\/ol>\n\n\n\n

              Move<\/strong>Long exposure as a lived experience of vision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Ernst Haas (1921\u20131986)Tokihiro Sato (1957)Uta Barth (1956)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Here, we no longer simply record what is seen: we photograph the act of seeing itself.Time becomes perception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              Where does the concept of \u201cin situ kinetic photography\u201d fit?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

              I did not list these aesthetic trends in order to put artists into categories, something I myself tend to avoid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

              However, it does allow for a methodical approach to understanding how, through the history of photography, long exposure, initially a technical constraint, has become an aesthetic intention in its own right. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              As for me, if I had to define myself within these trends, I would find it difficult. First, because it is always hard to judge oneself, and secondly because I do not identify with any of the six chapters outlined. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

              \"In<\/a>
              Spiritual Odysseys \u00a9 \u00c9ric Petr, 2025 | Nikon F3, Kodak ColorPlus 200 film<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

              Perhaps this is why I felt the need to name this territory of visual exploration rather than situate myself within an existing movement, such as \u201clong exposure with intention\u201d, which was only later, in the late 2010s, referred to as \u201cICM (Intentional Camera Movement)\u201d.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
              <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

              What is \u00ab In situ kinetic photography \u00bb, \u00ab Photographie cin\u00e9tique in situ \u00bb or \u00ab ISK photo \u00bb ? Ilt is a concept I developed in the early 2000s to express an intention. An intention or, more precisely, that of developing a body of work exploring the recording of light as photographic matter, in … <\/p>\n

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