Photography’s Afterlives
May 5&6, 2022
Photography’s Afterlives brings together artists, photo historians, curators, and theorists of visual culture to reflect on the afterlives of everyday vernacular images. Speakers will discuss how photography as a practice of everyday life acquires new meanings as images are collected, displayed, and reframed in changing historical and political circumstances. Looking at a variety of photographic genres (portraits and selfies, ID and passport photos, family photos, school pictures, street photos, prison photographs, tourist images and more) from different parts of the world, and at the work of artists who reframe and comment on them, conference speakers will explore the ways in which photography not only documents but actually shapes personal, social and political life.
This comparative discussion across photography’s multiple geographies and histories promises to add to current theoretical inquiries into everyday photographic practices. Engaging specifically what photos do when they are taken, and what they continue to do as historical, memorial and aesthetic objects, this conference will also reflect on what they can do as media of activism and social transformation.
The conference will consist of artist conversations and a mixture of roundtables with short talks on specific historical images and their afterlives.
Conference Co-Organizers: Marianne Hirsch, Silvia Spitta, Leo Spitzer
May 5, 2022
1:30: Arrival, Coffee (Russo Atrium, Hood Museum)
2:15: Welcome and Introductions (Rebecca Biron)
2:30-3:30: Photography’s Lives, Marianne Hirsch, Silvia Spitta, Leo Spitzer (Gilman Auditorium, Hood Museum)
3:45-5:15: Artist Conversation with Susan Meiselas, Lorie Novak, Jeff Sharlet (Mary Coffey) (Gilman Auditorium, Hood Museum)
5:30-6:45: Zantop Memorial Lecture: “Grieving the Winter Garden Photograph” Laura Wexler (Gerd Gemünden) (Gilman Auditorium, Hood Museum)
7:00-8:00: Reception (Russo Atrium, Hood Museum)
8:30: Film Screening Volver a Ver (To See Again) (discussion with filmmaker Judith Velez and Silvia Spitta) (13 Carpenter)
May 6, 2022
8:30-11:00: Coffee/fruit/croissants (Hanover Inn Ballroom)
9.30-11:00: What Do Archives Do? Brenda Child, Gil Hocherg, Angeles Donoso-Macaya (Ivy Schweitzer) (Ballroom, Hanover Inn)
11:30-12:30: Artist Conversation with Mirta Kupferminc and Sandra Ramos (Leo Spitzer) (Gilman Auditorium, Hood Museum)
12:30-1:30: Lunch
1:30-2:15: Visit to “This Land” with Jami Powell (Gilman Auditorium, Hood Museum)
2:30-4:00: What do Exhibits Do? Makeda Best, Isin Onol, Brian Wallis ( John Stromberg) (Gilman Auditorium, Hood Museum)
4:15-5:45: What Do Photos Do? Kimberly Juanita Brown, James Nachtwey, Thy Phu (Marianne Hirsch) (Gilman Auditorium, Hood Museum)
6:15-7:00: Visit to Orozco Murals