Not just illustrations: on the different usages of photographs and photography

What role do photographs play in your research? They may not necessarily be at its core for all researchers, but photography can certainly play a remarkable role in the access and understanding of history. Therefore, this methodological workshop aims to highlight the multiple usages of photographic material and technologies in historical research.

On day one, external academics are invited to share their work and approaches in using photographs in the fields of imperial/colonial history, history of gender and sexuality, history of medicine, and history of photography. Additionally, the presence of an archivist from the Historical Archives of the European Union and an art historian from the Photothek of the Kunsthistorisches Institute allows us to not only look behind the scenes of how material is stored, but also what value and use they gain as archived material.

On day two, the workshop will be dedicated to hands-on practical discussion and training, led by the invited guest speakers from the first day. Here, researchers will have the chance to discuss how they can approach and analyse photographic material as sources in their respective subfields. This will be followed by a trip the Photothek at the KHI in Florence city centre.

30-31 March 2023

Speakers :

Colonial and Imperial History : Daniel Foliard (LARCA)

History of Medicine: Katharine Rawling (University of Leeds)

Gender History: Thibault Boulvain (Sciences Po)

History of Photography: Elizabeth Edwards (De Monfort University)

Archives: Juan Alonso Fernandez (HAEU)

Interdisciplinary: Costanza Caraffa (Head of KHI Fototeca)