Mark James Ford – The Chemist Who Photographs Light a Thousand Years Old: The Science and Wonder of Astrophotography | Episode #290
About this episode
Mark James Ford discusses his journey from cityscapes to astrophotography and the chemistry behind photography.
In this episode, Perrin sits down with Mark James Ford, a chemist and astrophotographer based in Germany who spent decades photographing city skylines and macro flowers before pointing a camera at the night sky and capturing the Horsehead Nebula on his very first real attempt. Mark talks about how a school darkroom sparked a lifelong fascination with the chemistry of image making, why he believes no other art form demands a deeper understanding of physical and chemical processes than photography, and the accidental discovery that led him from cityscapes to distant galaxies. He gets into what it means to look at light that left its source a thousand years ago, how a health scare in 2023 reshaped his relationship to beauty and connection, and why he is now bringing the saturated, luminous colors of the cosmos back into his macro work, closing the loop between the smallest and largest things he has ever photographed. Check out the episode article here: https://greatbigphotographyworld.com/m ark-james-ford Want to support the show? Click here: https://greatbigphotographyworld.com/supporter/ Join our online photography community to interact with photographers just like this, get…
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