Princeton Library Conference

"Photography and the American West"

April 29, 2006

Princeton University, McCormick Hall, Room 101

The Friends of the Princeton University Library will host a day-long
academic conference entitled "Framing the Frontier: A Day of Lectures in
Honor of Alfred L. Bush" on Saturday, April 29, 2006. The conference will
focus on the early photography of the American West and contemporary issues
surrounding collection, display, and ownership. In the first panel,
"Picturing the West," the speakers will explore the place of photography in
early expeditions to the West, in the rise of the western cityscape, and in
Native American consciousness. The speakers in the second panel, "Western
Americana Photographs in the Archive," will focus on collecting western
photographs, their display in exhibitions, and the ethics and politics of
photographic images in the age of intellectual property.

The conference will honor Alfred L. Bush, who retired as Curator of Western
Americana in December 2002. Bush voraciously collected photographs of the
American West during his 45-year tenure at Princeton, ultimately collecting
some five thousand photographs. These photographs have recently been
cataloged by Heather A. Shannon, who has also curated an exhibition of the
photographs which opens on April 29 as well.

Conference program:

9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.:
Opening remarks by Ben Primer, Associate University Librarian for Rare Books
and Special Collections, Princeton University Library

10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.:
Panel I: Picturing the West

Ron Tyler, University of Texas (Austin)
"Photography and Early Western Expeditions: From Frémont to Simpson"

Jenny Watts, Huntington Library
"Camera Work: Photography and the Rise of Los Angeles"

Mick Gidley, University of Leeds
"Native American Camera Consciousness: Reading Photographs of American
Indians"

Bill Deverell, University of Southern California (Los Angeles), moderator

12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.: Lunch (a box lunch can be reserved in advance for
$10, see below)

1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.:
Panel II: Western Americana Photographs in the Archive

George Miles, Yale University Library
"Looking Outside the Frame: Documenting Photography in the American West"

Anton Treuer, Bemidji State University
"Authenticating Culture: An Analysis of the Importance of Language in Tribal
Exhibitions"

Michael F. Brown, Williams College
"Policing the Shadow Catchers: The Ethics and Politics of Photographic
Images in the Age of Intellectual Property"

Anne McCauley, Princeton University, moderator

The conference will be held in McCormick Hall, room 101, on Princeton
University campus, and is followed by a lecture by Martha A. Sandweiss
(Amherst College) at 4:00 p.m., also in 101 McCormick Hall, and the opening
of the exhibition "Framing the Frontier: Photographers & the American West,
1850-1920" (April 29-September 24, 2006) at Firestone Library's Main
Gallery.

The conference is free and open to the public. Registration is requested.
Please register and reserve a box lunch ($10) by contacting Linda Oliveira
Tel.: (609) 258-3155
E-mail: loliveirprinceton.edu