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Celestograph I (The Full Moon): photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
“I have worked like a devil and have traced the movements of the moon and the real appearance of the firmament on a laid-out photographic plate, independent from our misleading eye. I have done this without a camera and without a lens. [...] The photographic plate showed an area full of moons. Certainly, every spot on the photographic plate reflects a moon. The camera misleads as the eye does and the tube hoaxes the astronomers!”
-- August Strindberg: from a letter to physiologist Bengt Lidforss, 26 December 1893
"The series was taken during the winter of 1893-1894 in Dornach in Austria where Strindberg was staying with his wife Frida Uhl.
"Strindberg distrusted lenses and thought they gave a distorted rendering of reality. The celestographs were therefore an attempt to produce a more objective view of stars and planets. He sent the prints to the French Astronomical Society, where they were discussed."
-- August Strindberg: from a letter to physiologist Bengt Lidforss, 26 December 1893
"The celestographs or coelestographs are photos of the sky taken without camera or lens. The plates were directly exposed to the night sky for some time and then developed. The plates are now lost and only prints remain. August Strindberg thought he had captured the stars, so he called the photos celestographs.
"The series was taken during the winter of 1893-1894 in Dornach in Austria where Strindberg was staying with his wife Frida Uhl.
"Strindberg distrusted lenses and thought they gave a distorted rendering of reality. The celestographs were therefore an attempt to produce a more objective view of stars and planets. He sent the prints to the French Astronomical Society, where they were discussed."
-- National Library of Sweden
Celestograph I (The Full Moon), verso: Strindberg inscription: "La pleine lune. Sans appareil. Exposées: 1 minute et 1 1/2 minute. Non-fixées! (The Full moon. Without camera. Exposed 1 minute and 1 1/2 minute. Unfixed!)": photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
Celestograph IV: The Sun: photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
Celestograph IV (The Sun), verso: Strindberg caption:"Solen / Le Soleil": photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
Celestograph VI: Starry Sky: photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
Celestograph VI (Starry Sky), verso: Strindberg caption:"Stjernhimmeln / Etoiles": photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
Celestograph VII: Stars: photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
Celestograph VII (Stars), verso: Strindberg caption:"Stjernor/ Étoiles": photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
Celestograph VIII: Stars. Region of Orion: photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
Celestograph VIII (Stars), verso: Strindberg caption:"Stjernor/ Étoiles / La région d'Orion (Stars / Area around Orion)": photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
Celestograph XII: untitled: photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
Celestograph XIII: untitled: photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
Celestograph XIV: untitled: photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
Celestograph XV: untitled: photo by August Strindberg, 1893-94 (Manuscript collections, National Library of Sweden)
August Strindberg with children. Swedish author August Strindberg with his children Karin, Hans and Greta in Gersau, Switzerland: photo by August Strindberg, 1886 (National Library of Sweden)
August Strindberg. Self-portrait of Swedish author August Strindberg in Berlin: photo by August Strindberg, 1892 or 1893 (National Library of Sweden)