Cloud Stories

Cloud Stories presents a fresh account of the history of cloud photography, from the invention of the medium in the early 19th century to the present day. Naturally ephemeral phenomena, cloud formations have fascinated the art world since antiquity: how can these clouds be captured? What do they signify? What do they foretell? Are their shapes identical across the globe? Are they a mirror of our psyche? Can they be artificially reproduced? Artists and scientists have been fascinated by the sky and its manifestations for centuries, so when the process of photography emerged–;along with its potential to capture reality–;inventors, chemists, astronomers, meteorologists, engineers, and above all, pioneers of photography, set about developing innovative technical processes that now offer new ways of seeing and understanding the world. Drawing on the prestigious Archive of Modern Conflict collection, housed in London, the book offers an immersive exploration of a rare body of photographic work, enriched with images from renowned collections, including those of the Bibliothèque nationale de France and the Société française de photographie. Organized thematically, Cloud stories unfolds like a grand photographic album punctuated by portfolios and essays. Renowned for bringing lesser-known collections to light, Luce Lebart highlights here the documentary, aesthetic, and scientific contributions of cloud photography to the history of the medium. This photography thus played a role in the development of an international cloud classification system and the establishment of a nomenclature, as clouds once had no names.