Maksla XO Gallery presents SOFT FIELDS, a solo exhibition by David Penny, British photographic artist and researcher of light and image. On view August 21 – October 11, 2025.

The photographic moment is less about copying what already exists. Immaterial phenomena, which might previously have been describable only in words or observed fleetingly, can be made tangible and measurable.

The exhibition was created by David Penny in collaboration with physicists from King’s College London during advanced research into nanomaterials; it has been supported by SODA at Manchester Metropolitan University, the Royal Society, and the AN Artists Bursary (UK); presentation of the exhibition is supported by Artglass by GROGLASS.
David Penny’s practice encompasses photography, moving image and sculptural installation, thinking expansively around photography, materiality, objects and their images. He redefines the boundaries of photography through a unique, cameraless technique that merges science and art. By bridging laboratory methods with artistic intuition David Penny offers a fresh and speculative perspective on photography and its relationship with material objects. His “cameraless” photographs, made entirely without the use of a camera, explore the environment of the scientific laboratory, the photographic darkroom and the studio as sites of experimentation, artistic research and discovery. Several abstract series were created by capturing light in a nanophotonics laboratory, without using a camera. By placing sheets of photographic film in or near the path of high-powered lasers travelling through a system designed for nanomaterials research, he produces unique photograms. In “Soft Fields”, these works are presented in multiple series, encompassing wall-mounted photographic pieces and installations featuring undulating photogram sculptures.
David Penny (1979) holds a Master’s degree in Photography from the University of Westminster and has a PhD by Practice from Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University with the thesis “Pictures of Things and Things that are Pictures”. Since 2015, he has been a Senior Lecturer and Photography Programme Leader at SODA – School of Digital Arts Manchester School of Art, Manchester Metropolitan University.
Most significant projects and exhibitions in recent years: “Scatterings” (2025, The Arcade, Bush House, London, UK); “Carpet Land, Critical Tapestries” (2024, Kunstall Extra City, Antwerp, Belgium); “Threads” (2023, Arnolfini – Bristol’s International Centre for Contemporary Arts, Bristol, UK); “A Fallen Line of Marble Drums” (2022, Tbilisi Art Fair, Tbilisi, Georgia; SNEHTA, Athens, Greece); “Screen for Another Focus” (2019, OXO Tower, London, UK; Dovecot Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland); REMOTE WORK (2021, Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, UK); “Paper Geographies” (2020, Manchester Central Library, Manchester, UK). His works are included in public collections, including Manchester Art Gallery (Manchester, UK) and Grundy Art Gallery (Blackpool, UK).