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The evolution of Modern Art, brought to you by {name}

Kai Brückner

“Nivea Face” – Original Darkroom Kodalith by Michael Joseph
London, c.1988
Framed original. Signed by the artist.

Some images shout. Others whisper straight into the subconscious. This rare, original darkroom print – “Nivea Face” – is a sublime example of the latter: a sensual, almost spectral portrait crafted by Michael Joseph, master of both noise and nuance.

Best known for his riotous 1968 Rolling Stones Beggars Banquet shoot – all chaos, opulence and expressive defiance – Joseph was equally at home in the shadows of the darkroom, where light became language and chemicals could summon ghosts.

Here, using Kodalith film and delicate manipulation, he coaxes the face into being with an almost pointillist precision. It emerges from the paper like a memory you can nearly touch – soft, beguiling, and impossibly still. This is Joseph in contemplative mode: abstract, stripped back, intimate.

The magic of the darkroom lies not only in the process but in the restraint – knowing when not to fill the frame. And this piece exemplifies that restraint with breathtaking clarity. Every tonal decision was made by hand. Every contrast – deliberate. A world away from the rowdy banquet table, but made by the same brilliant eye.

A one-off silver gelatin treasure, elegant and enigmatic. For collectors of rare analogue process, 20th-century photography, or anyone drawn to the quiet genius behind the lens—this is a piece to live with.

Sold with frame (predominantly to protect the artwork in transit) and signed on the silver mount.

Will be dispatched with care, as all one-off works of beauty should be.

Authentic darkroom print - Signed - B & W with silver mount - 1988

Michael Joseph - Nivea face - kodalith finesse, authentic vintage darkroom print

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