Joly Dots and Don’ts

A zine by Alan Phelan

€10.00

by Alan Phelan, 2026

36 pages, color, A5

Alan PHelan has been working with the Joly screen process since 2018, one of the first stable colour photography methods that was invented by Trinity College Dublin physics professor John Joly in the 1880s. The ‘Iadditive’ or ‘Iseparate’ process uses a red, green, and a blue striped screen to filter light not chemistry.

The content of the images is broad as Phelan wants to create a visual history for the process that it never had a chance to have as it was abandoned early on.

This selection draws on several projects - flower photographs that reference floral paintings and arrangements over five centuries, self-portraits that connect to queer photography history in performing identities, and ‘Idot’ photographs which exploit the layered process, leaving dot gaps in the stripes and adding visual complexity with coloured paper and re-photographed found images.

Alan Phelan is invited at the 61st International art Exhibition of la Biennale di Venezia !, ‘In Minor Keys’, curated by the late Koyo Kouoh. Alan Phelan’s works is spread across the Arsenale and the Central Pavilion of the Giardini, including an installation of Joly screen prints and the re-purposing of a window designed by Carlo Scarpa.

Do not miss Alan’s work in the Arsenale and Central Pavilion, open from 9 May till 22 November, 2026.

Alan Phelan's Instagram : here
Alan Phelan’s website : here

Special thanks to Noel, Klaus

Edition of 200 - First printing

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