Drawing on their expertise in photographic processes and jewellery, CFPR researchers Frank Menger and alchemist jeweller Sofie Boons, have worked with artist and anthropologist Liz Hingley. The aim of the project was to develop a hybrid production method employing 3D printing, analogue darkroom techniques and the craft of silversmithing, to replicate traditional Victorian keepsake jewellery with a digital twist. Using historic photographic methods, in particular, the dry gelatin emulsion photography on glass, photographic portraiture is created in a 21st century digital context from images produced with handheld mobile phone devices.  

The SIM Project was developed in collaboration with Hingley’s artist residency at Kings College London in 2022 and is inspired by ongoing dialogues with refugees about the role of the SIM card in fostering independence, belonging and imagined futures in a new place (Hingley, 2022).  

Workshops were run in Bristol, London and beyond, where participants are able to materialise precious exchanges that connect loved ones across time and place through this new process. SIM pendants have been exhibited at Science Gallery, London, Getxo Photo Festival in Spain, Martin Parr Foundation (as part of BOP festival in Bristol), and workshops have been held with refugees and asylum seekers at the Royal Photographic Society, Martin Parr Foundation, Kings College London, and during London Design Biennale 2023.