Invited Paper, 'Negating Desire: Circumscriptions of Yokohama Photography', Around the World in 8 Papers: Itineraries for a History of Photography Beyond the Western Canon, May 11, 2016, Weston Library, Visiting Scholars' Centre, University of Oxford.

Gartlan, L. (Invited speaker)

School of Art History

Activity: Talk or presentation types › Invited talk

Period	11 May 2016
Event title	Invited Paper, 'Negating Desire: Circumscriptions of Yokohama Photography', Around the World in 8 Papers: Itineraries for a History of Photography Beyond the Western Canon, May 11, 2016, Weston Library, Visiting Scholars' Centre, University of Oxford.
Event type	Other
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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.