In somewhat of a departure for Blue Sky, Stephen Berkman’sPredicting the Past will primarily feature sculptural objects and installations, with his photographs and illustrations occupying a supporting role on the gallery’s walls.

Berkman’s installation work explores the era of pre-chemical photography both literally and philosophically. While his constructions encompass optical projections and sculptural reinterpretations of the camera obscura, his body of work as a whole examines the intrinsic nature of photography during this nascent period when it was possible to create fleeting images, but impossible to fix them into permanent photographs. This search to rediscover the ephemeral nature of pre-photographic history, the scientific interplay of light and optics, and the quest for optical amusements, also known as philosophical instruments are uniquely considered throughout Berkman’s work. A few of the installation projects that employ the camera obscura principle include Surveillance Obscura, The Obscura Object, A Child’s Obscura, A Wandering Eye, Hair Obscura, and Looking Glass, which is perhaps the worlds first transparent camera obscura. Considering the implications of this camera obscura in her 2006