Critique, Homage, Iconoclasm? The reuse of 19th-Century Photography in Contemporary Art and Visual Culture
Since its invention photography has undergone continual redefinition, reshaping what we understand the medium to be—technologically, materially, and conceptually. As photography evolves, artists and others frequently return to early photographic technologies and image practices. This session explores how 19th-century photography has been recontextualized in contemporary art and visual culture, and how such references often reflect on and critique both historical and present-day concerns.
The session aims to foster interdisciplinary dialogue on the enduring presence—and critical potential—of 19th century photography today. We invite contributions that examine how these returns to historical photography engage with issues such as race, nature, labor, embodiment, human-animal relations, technology, and materiality. What ethical, political, or epistemological questions arise from reusing or referencing historical imagery, technologies or pictorial conventions? How do the material and technical conditions of early photographs shape their continued relevance in contemporary debates?
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of photographic reuse
- Dialogues between historical and contemporary photographic technologies
- Rephotography, appropriation, and archival interventions
- Uses of 19th century art photography vs. vernacular or scientific images in present-day visual culture
- Changes in photographic truth claims and aesthetic conventions over time
- Theorizing reuse-practices by way of notions such as “afterlives” (Warburg), appropriation, iconoclasm, homage, or “iconic images” (Hariman & Lucaites)
- The function of 19th-century imagery in present-day ecological and social critique
This half-day session is organized into 25-minute slots (15-20 min presentation + 5-10 min discussion).
Submit your Paper via this form. Please download, complete and send it directly to the Session Convenor(s) below by Sunday 2 November 2025:
Sara Callahan, Malmö University, sara.callahan@mau.se