Inaugural exhibition of the University of the Arts London (UAL) Photography Research Forum.
29 November - 16 December 2016
The exhibition brought together practice and research in photography from across the UAL for the first time.
What is photographic research? Is a photograph research? Is a photograph a form of research in formation? Is a photograph a gesture? An act? An analogy? An apparition? A program? An algorithmic artefact? What kind of research object is photography?
The work on show exemplified the experimental, critical and interdisciplinary thinking that questions the boundaries of the medium, and the cultural and critical context of the image.
Photography, possibly more than any other medium, is characterised by a longstanding cross-fertilisation of fine art and applied practices. The most exciting practice in all sectors is heavily influenced by the critical, conceptual and aesthetic thinking that underpins fine art, and leading photographers as well as artists see the exhibition space as a natural home for their work.
Photography research at UAL, whether practice-led or academic, has been at the forefront of this interrogation of the medium, and its varied manifestations across culture. The exhibition was accompanied by a symposium that explored the changing definitions of photography addressed by the work in the exhibition.
The exhibition was accompanied by a new publication 'What is Photographic Research' published by Camberwell Press.
Contributors included:
Jananne Al-Ani, Mervyn Arthur, Bernd Behr, Paul Bevan, Lewis Bush, Beverley Carruthers and Jane Woollatt, Sarah Dobai, Itai Doron, Neil Drabble, Jennifer Good and Harry Hardie, Max Houghton, Tom Hunter, Wiebke Leister, Martin Newth, Sophy Rickett, Daniel Rubinstein, Corinne Silva and Martina Caruso, Paul Tebbs, Esther Teichmann and Duncan Wooldridge.
Curated by:
Anne Williams and Duncan Wooldridge.