Light, photography and discovery: Two new exhibitions open at the Herschel Museum of Astronomy in Bath
This autumn the Herschel Museum of Astronomy will launch two new exhibitions exploring the connections between photography, astronomy and scientific discovery: Photology: John Herschel, Henry Talbot and Early Photography and The as-yet unseen by contemporary Irish artist Grace Weir.
Photology: John Herschel, Henry Talbot and Early Photography will explore Sir John Herschel’s pivotal role in the development of photography, and his collaboration with photographic pioneer William Henry Fox Talbot. Visitors to the exhibition gallery will discover how Herschel refined photographic techniques, developed new processes such as cyanotype, and coined many of the terms still used in photography today. The exhibition also examines his lasting influence through the work of pioneering figures including Anna Atkins, Julia Margaret Cameron and Mary Somerville.
The as-yet unseen, a new artistic intervention by Grace Weir, curated by Bridget de León, will unfold through the museum’s historic house. Created in response to the museum’s dual identity as both a family home and a site of major scientific discoveries, the exhibition considers observation as a form of continuous and highly attuned looking, grounded in the rhythms of domestic life. The exhibition brings together new site-responsive works, an embroidered tablecloth inspired by William Herschel’s first mapping of the Milky Way, a drawing scattered with stardust minerals, new paintings of prisms, and cyanotypes capturing shadows within the house. It also features a live counter displaying the current distance to Uranus in the Herschel’s 18th-century workshop, alongside selected existing artworks.
Together, the exhibitions will reveal the close relationship between astronomy and photography, showing how light, observation and experimentation have driven and influenced both scientific discovery and artistic practice. Through historic objects and contemporary artworks, visitors are invited to consider new connections between the Herschel family’s work and the ways we record, interpret and understand the world around us.
A programme of events, including a cyanotype workshop and a stargazing evening, will provide additional engagement for visitors.
Dr Amy Frost, Senior Curator at Bath Preservation Trust, says: “This is the first time in the Museum’s history that contemporary site-specific artworks have been integrated within the historic spaces and collection in this way, so it’s really exciting for us – it feels like a thread being created through time.
The two exhibitions offer visitors different perspectives on the Herschel family’s extraordinary legacy; ‘Photology’ highlights John Herschel’s important contribution to the development of photography, while Grace Weir’s exhibition brings contemporary artistic responses into conversation with the house and its history. Together, they explore how observation, curiosity and experimentation have connected astronomy and photography since the nineteenth century. We look forward to inviting audiences to look afresh at the historic house, its collections and the stories it contains.”
Bridget de León, curator of ‘The as-yet unseen’, says, “I have worked with Grace Weir for many years – we put on the first solo exhibition at the Science Museum, London by a contemporary artist and we are thrilled that Weir will again be the first contemporary artist to have her work displayed in the Herschel house. Her show plans to draw out stories relating to the Herschel family and shine a light on the pivotal role that Caroline Herschel, William’s sister, played in the astronomical discoveries made in the back garden of their house in Bath.”
Photology: John Herschel, Henry Talbot and Early Photography and The as-yet unseen will run from Saturday 5 September 2026 until Sunday 3 January 2027. Access to both exhibitions is included with museum entry, which costs £12.50 for adults and is free of charge for children.
