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Call for Papers: REFRAMING FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY

Symposium organized by Toronto University

Toronto University   /   Deadline: 09/01/16

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This conference will re-examine the genre and develop new ways of investigating the cultural politics of family photography. We are seeking papers that critically reframe family photography in light of recent historical shifts.

We are seeking papers that critically reframe family photography in light of these historical shifts. To what extent do domestic images confirm or contest official discourses of racial, sexual, and gender diversity? How do family photos produce ‘the family’ and function as one of the many technologies of the self? How do family photographs offer a counter-archive of normative modes of kinship? What problems do orphan images-photographs that lack context-pose for interpretation, and what methods might we develop to understand their significance? How might the reproduction and circulation of family photos, or their loss due to sudden or violent dislocation, help connect and constitute diasporic communities? How has the digital turn altered the look and meaning of family photographs? How might we situate family photography within the history of photography more generally? What are the implications for the recent interest in institutional collecting of family photos? How have contemporary artists contributed to new ways of understanding family photography? These are just some of the key questions that this international conference on REFRAMING FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHY will explore.

Confirmed speakers include:
Tina Campt (Barnard College)
Nicole Fleetwood (Rutgers University)
Richard Hill (Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Studies, Emily Carr University of Art and Design)
Marianne Hirsch (Columbia University)
Martha Langford (Concordia University)
Laura Wexler (Yale University)
Deborah Willis (NYU)

Download the official call for proposals for more details.

Location

Toronto University Canada

Fees

none

Considerations

Deadlines:
Please submit a 300 word abstract and a 1-page CV by September 1st, 2016.
For more information, please contact: info@torontophotographyseminar.org

Schedule
September 1st, 2016: 300-word abstract and a 1-page CV.
October 30 2016: The selection committee will notify applicants of its decision.
September 1st, 2017: Drafts of 10-page papers to be submitted to discussants.
September 28th-30th, 2017: Conference.

Contact Information

Anne Cobol
Toronto, Canada

P: office: 905-627-8195
mobile: 416-305-1572
E: info@torontophotographyseminar.org