A series inspired by collectible traditions — Pokemon and Panini – bringing together art, history, and a bit of playful curiosity.

The Mysteries of Photography: Postcards for a New Generation
A series inspired by collectible traditions — Pokemon and Panini – bringing together art, history, and a bit of playful curiosity.
“I Misteri della Fotografia” (“The Mysteries of Photography”) is a growing collection of art postcards (“cartoline”) that invites the curious—and the nostalgic—into the enigmas of photographic history. Published to date in Italian, the project consists of three series, each with 12 individual postcards and a bonus “mystery card,” making for 39 numbered collectibles to be discovered, exchanged, and assembled.
Inspirations: Three Traditions Revisited
This project has roots in three distinct cultural traditions:
Popular Science Publishing: For more than 150 years, Louis Figuier’s “Les Merveilles de la Science” has inspired readers through its clear explanations and sometimes delightfully naïve illustrations—visuals that make even the most complex topics feel approachable.
School Rewards and Chromolithographs: The tradition of colorful chromolithographs and “bons points,” handed out to schoolchildren as rewards well into the 20th century, encouraged a first generation of image collectors—small tokens to accumulate and trade among classmates.
Pokémon Cards and Panini Football Stickers: Drawing from the modern culture of collectible games and series such as Pokémon cards and Panini football portraits, the project echoes the anticipation, enjoyment, and social exchange integral to completing a set—now applied to the world of photographic and image history.
Each card is a mixed-media work: collage, engraving, gouache retouching, with occasional manual additions, unified by both a digital foundation and careful documentation, grounded in physical reality.
After years spent investigating the history of photography, certain advantages of digital technologies have emerged quietly but clearly. Their true value is perhaps most evident when artificial intelligence is asked not to invent or embellish according to its own tendencies or popular taste, but rather to accurately translate and reconstruct materials already assembled and analyzed with care.
Such an approach preserves the integrity and detail of the original research, safeguarding both the creative process and the intentions behind every image. Here, traditional and digital methods are less rivals than partners—each contributing distinct strengths to the task of sharing established ideas through a broader, more accessible visual language.
A particular emphasis has been placed on the validation of faces for various historical figures in the story of photography. Wherever possible, efforts were made to ensure that the visual representations corresponded closely to the scant surviving documents—portraits, engravings, and early photographs—of these individuals.
When original documentation was limited or ambiguous, each image underwent comparison with all credible sources available, however fragmentary.
In summary, the approach prioritizes methodical verification and historical compatibility, valuing precise and responsible interpretation above invention or embellishment—especially in the representation of faces, where identity and authenticity are central.
Every print is signed by the artist, Pavel Nicotine, ensuring its place within “The Mysteries of Photography” series. This year’s illustrations were developed together with friends and students, whose input and validation shaped the final selection.
Series and Packaging:
So far, three series of 12 postcards each have been released making a total of 36 postcards.
The postcards are also available in plain envelopes, each containing a random assortment of 12 cards drawn from all series. This arrangement encourages collecting and swapping, inviting participants to complete their sets through both discovery and exchange.
I MISTERI DELLA FOTOGRAFIA ( CRONOLOGICAL ORDER)
First series: MYT – dedicated to myths and precursors
Twelve « Heliochromic » postcards
1. MYT-1. Il primo ritratto
2. MYT-2. Illusione perfetta
3. MYT-3. Riflesso mortale
4. MYT-4. Iconoclasma
5. MYT-5. Alhazen
6. MYT-6. Roger Bacon
7. MYT-7. Leonardo
8. MYT-8. Keplero
9. MYT-9. La lanterna magica
10. MYT-10. Canaletto
11. MYT-11. Prof. Charles
12. MYT-12. Elizabeth Fulhame
X. MYT-X. Giphantia
Second series: JNN – dedicated to the life and inventions of Joseph Nicéphore Niépce
• JNN-1 · Angers – 1787
• JNN-2 · Miniera d’argento, Sardegna – 1797
• JNN-3 · Pyréléophore. Chalon-sur-Saône – 1807
• JNN-4 · Saint-Loup-de-Varennes – 1816.
• JNN-5 · Nicéphore and the Lithographic Stone. Near Chalon – 1816
• JNN-6 · Maison Giroux, Rue du Coq Saint-Honoré – 1822
• JNN-7 · Saint-Loup-de-Varennes – dicembre 1825
• JNN-8 · Atelier di Lemaitre, Parigi – febbraio 1827
• JNN-9 · Saint-Loup-de-Varennes – luglio 1827
• JNN-10 · Kew Gardens, vicino Londra – ottobre 1827
• JNN-11 · Saint-Loup-de-Varennes – 14 dicembre 1829
• JNN-12 · La Table Servie, Saint-Loup-de-Varennes – 1833
• JNN-X · Bottega di Chevalier, Parigi – gennaio 1826
Third series: DAG – dedicated to the role played by Daguerre and the Anouncement of the invention
• DAG-1 – Solitudine di Daguerre, 1836
• DAG-2 – Deliberazione
• DAG-3 – Indiscrezione
• DAG-4 – Talbot protesta
• DAG-5 – Morse al Diorama
• DAG-6 – Hamel a Lacock
• DAG-7 – Bayard espone
• DAG-8 – Daguerre negozia
• DAG-9 – L’annuncio – 19 agosto 1839
• DAG-10 – Fotografi-viaggiatori
• DAG-11 – Hamel visita Isidore a Lux
• DAG-12 – New York – 10 settembre 1839
DAG-X – L’incendio del Diorama
HOW TO ORDER ?
Complete set of Three series of 12 plus 3 extra : 40,00 euros at ATELIER41
Postage: Europe, please add 5,00 euros,
Overseas, please add 20,00 euros
PayPal: consigned@sergeplantureux.it
Qonto Bank account: CONSIGNED.IT DI SERGE M. PLANTUREUX
IBAN IT15N3609201600128076437797

The postcards are also available in plain envelopes, each containing a random assortment of 12 cards drawn from all series. 10,00 euros

Commenti recenti