The Glass Archive

"The exhibition - Beneath an Ancient Sea: Oamaru and the Glass Archive - explores the story of diatomite visually. Forrester Gallery Director Jane Macknight says: "Victorian era Scientists and enthusiasts would extract the microscopic fossils found in the diatomite and display them in exquisite arrangements on glass slides. Viewed under a microscope these tiny fossils reveal an extraordinary hidden world". Internationally renowned NZ Photographer Wayne Barrar has created this exhibition which consists of a selection of 40 photographic prints: large format colour prints and traditional Victorian-era handmade albumen prints. The photographs represent a selection of images from Museum diatomite collections around the world, many of which came from Oamaru."--Publisher description.