Call for papers
Photographica No. 4

Behind the picture.
Towards a social and cultural history of photographic image producers
(19th-21st centuries)

Special issue edited by
Marie-Ève Bouillon and Laureline Meizel

To what extent does the meaning of a photograph depend on social experience, industrial contingencies, the professional environment or the culture of its producers? This special issue of Photographica aims to explore this question and thus extend the discussions initiated during a seminar at the EHESS in 2018 2020. The issue attempts to contribute to the growing number of studies into the professions or companies related to photography (previously unknown or underestimated by historiography) (Blaschke, 2016; Callens, 2016; Bouillon, 2017; Lugon, 2019; Bihl et Dogué, 2020), as well as recent research on the influence of cooperation networks on the “‘public’ life of photographs” (Leblanc, 2015; Grossi, 2018; Bair, 2020). Its purpose is to bring together texts devoted to trajectories and collaborations of the multiple players who participate in the production of photographs and, at the same time, contribute to shape their modalities of existence in social space. Instead of questioning the photographer’s gaze, the meaning or the intrinsic power of his or her images, the question will be to examine skills, trades or professions involved in the conception, the financing and/or making of photographic images intended for distribution in multiple copies to a wide audience. How, by whom, and according to which cultural, social, and economic models, has the expertise of these producers been structured and, possibly, hierarchized within a field whose contours remain to be questioned over the course of the history of photography? At the same time, what were the repercussions of the interactions between these producers both on their operating models and on their photographs?

By inviting contributors to position themselves behind the image and no longer in front of it, this call invites surveys on players whose role in the making of visual cultures has remained obscure, for reasons that the contributions will seek to tackle. Drawing specifically on the methodological contributions of a pragmatic sociology of art, culture and media, this call therefore incites to take a critical and situated interest in the armies of invisible hands and minds that participate or have participated in the public existence of photographic images, without geographic or chronological restrictions. It encourages a more careful look at the inconsistencies and fragility of the processes which shape photographs, but also to accept the epistemological uncertainties generated by a posture based on seeing and knowing. Finally, it invites contributors to take into account what constitutes the common thread between the producers in question: the images as well as the objects resulting from the collective practice of the photographic medium.
One of the most paradigmatic examples of this approach is embedded in the study of postcards. For Gisèle Freund (1974 [1936]), a postcard is above all a social object without a claimed author, understood as a global phenomenon or as a simple way of reproducing images, without an assessment of the conditions enabling its existence, nor its cultural influence. However, a material study of these neglected and anonymous objects can help us reconstruct the history of the players involved in their production, to identify the different stages of their realization, and, finally, their influence on social imagery. The postcard is just one example. Photographic earthenware, stained glass, and many other mass-produced objects (mugs, t-shirts, smartphone cases, etc.) could be investigated this way. Drawing on industrial history, this call for papers aims at a social and cultural history of photographic producers. Its guiding idea is to go beyond a master-narrative solely focused on photographers or on the aesthetics of photographs, and instead, to outline new perspectives based on commonly disregarded materials (trademarks, advertisements, sales catalogs, legal deposits, professional magazines).

The entire issue – including book and exhibition reviews, as well as the presentation of a historical source – will focus on the producers of photographs from the 19th to the 21st centuries.

Articles may address this notion in specific case studies or by following an expansive approach (prosopographical, theoretical or methodological). Particular attention will be paid to contributions that cover neglected regions of the world and analyze non-Western practices. By promoting a historicized approach, the contributions may fall within the three topics listed below:

1. The professions of the photographic industry: identities, genres, relations of domination
2. Representations, invisibilizations, and social imaginaries of photographic production
3. The establishment and development of cooperation networks: which spatial and temporal scales?
For more detailed information on these three topics including a bibliography please visit the following website: https://devisu.inha.fr/photographica/325

Calendar

Submission deadline: April 30, 2021
Committee response date: Mid-May 2021
(including guidelines for possible corrections if the proposal is selected)
Presentation and discussion of texts edited by contributors during a study day at the INHA, Paris: June 25, 2021
Publication in Photographica No. 4: Spring 2022

Articles

Articles should be submitted in French or English.
They should not exceed 30,000 characters (spaces and notes included).
They should also be anonymised.
Co-authored articles are welcome.
Suggested illustrations (15 max.) with captions and credits can be joined. Article submissions will be evaluated in double-blind peer-review. They may be accepted, accepted with modifications, or refused.
In a separate document, please include name, e-mail address, position, and institutional affiliation (university, research unit), along with a list of publications for the author(s).

Submissions should be sent to: redactionphotographica-revue.fr
For further questions / inquiries, please contact: contactphotographica-revue.fr