Photography Today, Tomorrow

Participants

David Tomas (CAN), Damian Sutton (GBR), Dawn Phillips (GBR), Pieter Hugo (ZAF), Tuomo Rainio, (FIN), Ulf Lundin, (SWE), Anna Kleberg (SWE), Joan Fontcuberta (ESP), Anna Tellgren (SWE), Karen Cross (GBR), Ronald Jones (SWE), Håkan Nilsson, (SWE), Karin Wagner (SWE), Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger (FIN), Bertien van Manen (NEL), Trinidad Carillo (SWE), Johan Willner (SWE), Thomas Hämén (SWE), Jan-Erik Lundström (SWE), Karin Becker (SWE)

The days of the symposium are organized with differing focus and content. During Day 1 contemporary theories of the photograph, the aesthetics of photography and philosophical perspectives on photography are discussed. Central in the program is the encounter between artist’s contribution and theoretical presentations. Day 2 focuses research projects and presentations which examine and articulate forms of contemporary photographic communication, the variety of contemporary uses of photographs. Topics include, among others, examinations of digital forms of exchange, amateur- and professional practices involving Internet, the uses and roles of photography within contemporary social media. Also during this day the dialogue between researchers/historians and practitioners/photo-graphers is crucial, noting that, certainly, theory and practice always overlap. Altogether, the symposium offers an extensive panorama of the photographic cultures of the present, suggestive on those to come.

Photography Today, Tomorrow constitute the final phase of the project Platform Photography, the many-layered examination of contemporary photography that has been carried out under the auspices of the Stockholm-based Center for Photography and made possible through a grant from the Foundation for the Culture of the Future. The activities of the project has consisted of, for example, a long series of evening lectures/presentations including the review of contemporary photography in eight European nations, seminars devoted to five different genres within historical and present-day Swedish photography, four month long on-line discussion on a variety of current topics as well as a lively net site with member inquiries, portfolios, etc. And now this symposium as the finale: A two day event with twenty contributors on contemporary photographic practices, seen from the perspectives of practicioners, users and researchers.