The collection · DiffusionLab

A Bakelite egg cup and a vacuum chamber with a feather and a hammer behind a quench tower in steam, the neon and chrome years, graphoscope view. Work 9300.

An oil floated on water for the colour on a floor of polished black stone, a Tuesday in 1994, raking light along a plated sleeve, contact sheet printed in one pass. Work 9271.

The log recorded eleven fathoms: theatrical tableau under water of a lamp-circled relief valve hissing on a stand, 1857. Work 9268.

A globe lamp on a brass stem beyond a queue rail with no queue, 1993, after hours photograph of a lobby, fibre based print with a soft black. Work 9256.

A street lamp of wire with a bead shade, the week before the club show, enamel colour under photofloods, long exposure of eight seconds. Work 9234.

A brass microscope on a mahogany plinth through an open bulkhead door in the year the lamps were fitted, hand coloured engraving with gum arabic. Work 9212.

A window wall of panes in matched frames and a pair of sconces either side of a door, figure backlit in a doorway of light, lantern slide bound in tape. Work 9205.

The last edition before quantum theory: severe clarity with nothing decorative of a distillation apparatus with a condenser beside a key lettered a to h. Work 9194.

Group of curators facing the lens of a deadpan attendant with hands at his sides and a recording barograph under a glass hood, the year of the first accession, small aperture for front to back focus. Work 9165.

The barometer was tapped by everyone: a pneumatic tube terminal at a desk in the season the funicular opened, long exposure of an empty dining room, Kodachrome with dusty pink walls. Work 9157.

It was centred by measuring from both walls: a crank turned by a gloved hand in the year the gallery was added, tinted lantern slide of an interior, two colour litho in mint and ochre. Work 9111.

Dystopian 1950s constructivist cult monument, modern art, Project film, print with a retouched background. damaged film, film grain. Work 9108.

Dystopian 1980s national monument, modern art, Project film, print with a retouched background. damaged film, film grain. Work 9101.

The century of the built worlds: hard terminator across a hull of a helmet alone under a work lamp against the flank of a vast ring. Work 9072.

A lamp shade of banded aluminium on a plain plywood bench, the Dessau years. Work 9063.

A traveller drifting with the head thrown back made of figure with light passing through the helmet in the shadow of the pylon, the long luminous interval, large plate scanned at full chroma. Work 9039.

A feather-crowned sounding pole marked in bands of paint, the hot half of the year, bounced light off white canvas. Work 9032.

The summer the dome was repainted, a porter carrying one small brass sphere at a window of twelve identical panes, colour negative printed cool and dusty, grain visible in a deep shadow. Work 9015.

A dust-free motor drive turning a star globe in 1935, wide angle distortion at the corners, lens flare from a console lamp. Work 9008.

Soft pastel palette over deep shadow of a pressure hatch dogged from the inside behind a polished brass rail, tripod exposure with the lens stopped down, collodion positive on glass. Work 8991.

A bell jar over a stuffed bird within a fitted case lined with baize, the ladder was moved twice a year. Work 8989.

Quirky 1960s constructivist deco, retro tech, Project film, print with a retouched background. damaged film, film grain. Work 8988.

An instrument tray under a green lamp lit by a green readout alone, the first decade of issued histories, reflection of two faces in a panel, slow film for very fine grain. Work 8974.

Confessional diary photograph of a kurent, streetlight through a rainy window, half plate negative held level. Work 8962.

New Year 1920, a scratched editor with a red pen pinned to a slate frame, Arraiolos rug. Work 8947.

The year the gallery was glazed: a glass flask ground at the neck in a shallow tray pulled half out, still life of tools in matched pairs, single lamp raking across a cabinet. Work 8940.

The lamp softened her arm by lunchtime: a red plasticine postbox thumbed into shape in one long afternoon in 1969, vignetted corners on a tabletop shot, noise reduction leaving a soft edge. Work 8833.

Summit panorama joined from plates of a knife edge test in a dark corridor down a long spectrograph well, the late 1890s, halation halo around a bright star. Work 8818.

A map hanging rail with brass rings through a shaft of light and turning dust in 1850, lecture figure of a survey method, stipple shading on a coast plate. Work 8798.

A ladder in a shaft lit at the top photographed as a signal lamp glowing red in the dark, practical lamp in frame, smoke haze on an underground set. Work 8788.