Call For Papers: Wasting Nature: Ecocriticism and Photography

Journal: Photography and Culture
Deadline for abstracts
September 1st, 2011

Henry Fox Talbot famously described photography as the “pencil of nature.”
Although this metaphor refers to photography’s special relationship to the
real, to the indexicality that makes it suited for naturalist
representation, Talbot’s evocative phrase also raises important questions
about photography’s relationship to nature. Indeed, nature remains an
abiding passion among contemporary practitioners as it was among early
photographers. Beyond naturalism and nature appreciation, however, how has
photography approached nature?

The editors of Photography and Culture invite submissions that explore the
theoretical, historical and interdisciplinary dimensions of ecocriticism and
photography. In what ways has photography participated in conservation
movements? How have photographers contributed to ecological consciousness?
Has an attention to aesthetics helped or hindered this project? To what
extent might photography be complicit in wasteful practices? We are
interested in

papers that consider the ecocritical implications of photography from the
perspectives of the media, artists, and activists. Possible topics could
include, among others: the documentation of nuclear catastrophe and global
warming; the visual vocabulary of ecological consciousness; the photographic
practices of the green movement.

Abstracts of no more than 500 words, along with a short cv (maximum 1 page),
should be sent by 1 September, 2011, to the following address:
pceditorsgmail.com.

Notification regarding the abstracts will be sent by 1 October 2011.
Articles of 7000- 9000 words will be required by 1 December 2011 and will be
submitted to an external peer-review process. The special issue will appear
in Spring 2012.

Editors:
Kathy Kubicki (kathykubickibtinternet.com)
Thy Phu (tphuuwo.ca)
Valerie Williams (valredhouseaol.com)

Assistant Editor:
Monica Takvam (mtakvamgmail.com)

Photography and Culture:
http://www.bergpublishers.com/BergJournals/PhotographyandCulture/tabid/3257/Default.aspx