CALL FOR PAPERS:
3rd International Conference of Photography and Theory (ICPT2014)
Photography and Politics and the Politics of Photography

December 5-7, 2014
at the Nicosia Municipal Arts Centre,
Associated with the Pierides Foundation [NiMAC],
Nicosia, Cyprus

www.photographyandtheory.com

Keynote Speakers:
Walid Raad
John Tagg

Research in historical, artistic and vernacular photography has been rapidly expanding in the past few years. Responding to this trend, the International Conference of Photography and Theory (ICPT) was created with an aim to provide an outlet for an interdisciplinary and critical theoretical exploration of photography and photographic practices. The 3rd International Conference of Photography and Theory (ICPT2014) aims once again at bringing together researchers and practitioners from diverse fields of study who share a common interest in photography. This year’s topic is ‘Photography and Politics and the Politics of Photography’.

The end of the 20th century and the first years of the 21st century were characterised by a series of dramatic events that deeply affected social, cultural, political and economic structures across the board, both globally and locally. These events have prompted artists and theorists worldwide into a vehement engagement with political issues. Photography has historically played a key role in this political engagement, mainly through its evidential power: the camera becoming an influential recording tool and the photograph as a proof of truth telling. On the other hand, the veracity of an image and its authenticating attributes have been strongly contested, raising issues of ethics, manipulation and political steering. In parallel, the actual medium of photography has undergone fundamental changes specifically with regard to its production, distribution and consumption. The historical production of photography has been strongly challenged and even overly replaced by the emergence of what constitutes the contemporary digital culture, again bringing to the fore essential and often ethical issues related to the dissemination, reception and interpretation of an image.

This conference aims to critically investigate the relationship between photography and politics as well as the politics of the medium itself. We invite proposals for 30-minute presentations (20 minutes presentation and 10 minutes for discussion) from various disciplines, such as: photography, art history and theory, visual sociology, anthropology, museology, philosophy, ethnography, cultural studies, visual and media studies, communications, and fine and graphic arts. These should present an in-depth investigation of the relationship between photography and politics and the politics of the photographic practice historically, philosophically or through specific case studies.

Submitted proposals for presentations should address, but are not limited to one of the following:

Photography and Politics:

• Photography and propaganda
• Photography and ideology
• Photography as a tool for political change
• Photography and revolt
• Power and photography
• Hegemony in photographic representation
• Cultural politics and photography
• Photography as agent
• Documentary photography: evidence and/or truth
• Photography of war
• Photography and public memory
• Gender politics and photography
• Photography and social history
• Photography and colonialism
• Globalization and photography
• Photography and Political Pedagogy ?

The Politics of Photography:

• Photography in crisis
• Photography and ethics
• Politicising the moment through digital technology
• The fiction of politics and photographic representation
• The responsibilities of photography
• The iconicity of photography and its political implications
• Framing the subject: strategies and choices of the practitioner
• The “civic” contract of photography
• The politics of the archive
• Politics of dissemination and reception
• The political economy of the photograph
• Online dissemination and the power of change
• The ‘economy’ of images and the digital
• Photography's politics: Social change, Dialogues and Pedagogy?

To propose a paper please send a 400-word (excluding references) abstract no later than June 7, 2014 to icptphotographyandtheory.com. For the purposes of blind refereeing, full name of each author with current affiliation and full contact details (address, email, phone), title of presentation, and a short biographical note (200 words) should be supplied on a separate document. Both documents (abstract and contact details) should be in English.

Important dates:
Deadline for submission: June 7, 2014
Notification of authors: August 7, 2014
Deadline for early registration: September 7, 2014
Deadline for late registration: October 16, 2014
Conference: December 5-7, 2014

Submitted proposals will go through blind peer-reviewing and authors will be notified of the acceptance of their proposals by August 7, 2014.
For more information in the next few months, please visit the website of the International Association of Photography and Theory at: www.photographyandtheory.com
Questions may be sent to: icptphotographyandtheory.com