The amphitype is an early photographic processes that replaced daguerreotypes in the 1850’s. Because amphitypes are not mirrors, they are less sensitive to viewing angle than the older process. Interestingly, amphitypes are underexposed negatives that are made to appear positive by their placement on a matt black background. Portraits made with antique processes inhabit a middle ground between painted portraits and contemporary photography. Because exposure times could be almost a minute, subjects hold very serious, composed postures that are quite different than a candid snapshot. They are not fixed instants of time, but the result of a prolonged meditation that seems to dig deeper than a superficial glance. Such photography is metaphorically related to composing, where music becomes an extended moment, using electronics to expand and contract time. The electronics act as an aural lens, focussing, refracting, and framing aspects of the original flute sound.

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/29697