Teaching people to photograph the invisible

The Science Museum London asked Shamik Ray and I to host a one-day workshop to explore the invisible electromagnetic fields around everyday objects through photography and custom software. The workshop was designed to give participants the tools, time and freedom necessary to explore the invisible world of everyday objects and tell these stories in their own way. The emphasis was on understanding and visualising scientific data in a captivating and unexpected ways. Mistakes and exploration were encouraged so that participants could present their work and their learnings to the rest of the group as shared inspiration and group learning.

The workshop builds on the Visualising Electromagnetic Fields project and was the first time our custom Android and iOS apps were used by members of the public. The hands-on workshop allowed participants to explore and create photographic data-visualisations using light-painting to discover electromagnetic fields around everyday objects. Organised in close collaboration with the Science Museum to coincide with Joan Fontcuberta’s Stranger than Fiction exhibition.