MUSÉE DES BEAUX-ARTS LE LOCLE | LE LOCLE, SWITZERLAND
The first digital image, or rather, the first photograph with pixels. A scanned image of Walden, the son of the inventor Russell Kirsch, 1957.
To mark the Bicentenary of Photography, the MBAL presents The First Photos. Until Proven Otherwise, an exhibition curated by artist and researcher Francesca Seravalle. The project explores the earliest known photographs, treating each “first” as the starting point of a larger story that challenges conventional photographic history.
By presenting iconic masterpieces alongside anonymous experiments and technical tests, the exhibition reveals photography as both a technological invention and a social practice. Rather than simply identifying historical milestones, it explores photography’s origins as an evolving process shaped by discovery, research, and reinterpretation—always until proven otherwise.
Organized around visual themes instead of chronology, the exhibition connects photography with family, nature, portraiture, and social history. Interactive displays invite visitors to investigate pioneering images, early erotic photography, and the evidence behind claims of authenticity. Seravalle embraces uncertainty, arguing that mistakes drive research forward and that the history of photography remains open to new discoveries and new interpretations.
