MATERIAL PHOTOGRAPHIES READING GROUP

The Material Photographies Reading Group meets regularly online to explore critical thinking/making around the photograph in its multiple forms and dynamic manifestations—to welcome new ways of thinking and celebrate the increasingly complex photosphere we inhabit. All are warmly invited to attend!

Please find all the details below. As always, do get in touch for the Meeting link and the texts, and/or, with any questions/reflections/ideas: — do feel free to bring anyone you think would like to join.

You can reach us at materialphotographies@gmail.com

Next meeting: Wednesday, September 06, 2023, 5:30 pm London Time.

Our pieces to contemplate: 

1. Jeff Wall – Photography and Liquid Intelligence 

2.Iwan Rhys Morus Bodies/Machines, Introduction, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2002.

3. Graeme Gooday, Spot-watching, Bodily Postures and the ‘Practised Eye’ in Bodies/Machines, edited by Iwan Rhys Morus, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2002.

Jo Gane is an artist and educator working in the Midlands, UK. Her practice involves making artwork about the rich history of photography. Her specialist area of knowledge is the practice of early photographic processes. She uses historic photographic techniques from the dawn of photography such as the Calotype, Daguerreotype and wet plate collodion processes to make contemporary images that disrupt the linear representation of time. Currently a 2nd year M4C funded PhD researcher in the School of Art at Birmingham City University and the Photo History Research Centre at DeMontfort University, she also regularly lectures in Photography at Coventry University. http://www.jogane.co.uk/ 

Graeme Gooday is a historian specialising in the history of technology and science. His research has provided significant insights into the development and social implications of technological innovations, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Gooday’s writings offer a nuanced understanding of the interactions between science, society, and culture.

Iwan Rhys Morus, born December 1965, is a historian of science, with a focus on Victorian science and culture. Hailing from Wales, he has written extensively on the relationship between science, technology, and society. Morus delves into the construction and communication of scientific knowledge. His writings underscore how scientific narratives profoundly influence cultural perceptions and history.

Jeff Wall is a Canadian artist best known for his large-scale, back-lit cibachrome photographs. Born in 1946 in Vancouver, his pioneering work combines elements of cinematography with traditional photography, producing evocative, often staged scenes. Wall’s subjects range from everyday life to historical and theoretical themes. He has received numerous accolades and global exhibitions.