As histories of photography are increasingly taking into account photographic practices
beyond the Western canon, it remains unclear which methodological tools scholars should take on that journey. Categories and concepts such as colonial photography (including ‘the colonial gaze’) and cultural difference are under critique because they have proven inapplicable in many cases. As a result, the lines between insider/outsider and local/colonizer in imperial and other contexts are increasingly blurred. Established concepts such as authorship are also in flux as power relations of photographic commission and patronage prove to be complex in some less-explored places. Furthermore, previously canonical models in photo theory seem incompatible with hitherto unknown locally-specific sources that enter the story, for example in the myriad ways photography was perceived in relation to reality. Finally, critical awareness
of the self-perpetuating dynamics of archives from former colonial legacies that scholars are using complicates the story further. Just as problematic is the uncontrollable digital realm in which photographs are perceived and circulated globally. This study day will allow anthropologists, (art) historians, and artists to present and debate case studies from across the globe that will serve as platforms for exploring possible avenues for future research. The regions and countries that will be considered by speakers and invited discussants include the Middle East, Central America, Japan, Egypt, India, China and Uganda, although other places and traditions will also be brought into the conversation.

The Programme for the day can be found here: bit.ly/1XU4sfY

Study Day sponsored by The Photography Seminar
(Centre for Visual Studies, Dept. of History of Art, and Bodleian Libraries, University of Oxford) Hosted by the Bodleian Libraries’ Centre for the Study of the Book
Space for audience members is limited. Registration details will be published in April on: www.hoa.ox.ac.uk/events.html