Pictures in motion: photography, empire, and resistance
The announcement of photography’s invention in 1839 coincided with the rise
of imperial ambition in the United States and the development of
post-colonial states in the Americas. Since then, photographs have been in
constant circulation across this region, serving as instruments of both
imperial expansion and resistance. While the camera has documented people
and places in ways that define their subordinate relationship to centers of
power, it has also enabled subjects to undermine such power. For the 2012
Annual Meeting of the American Studies Association –“Dimensions of Empire
and Resistance: Past, Present, and Future,” November 15-18 in San Juan,
Puerto Rico–we are putting together a proposal for a session that examines
the cultural work done by photography’s circulation throughout the Americas.
We welcome papers that reflect on the photographic production,
dissemination, and reinterpretation of collective identities and/or
stereotypes. Papers that address the spread of photographic conventions and
their local adaptations are also appropriate, as are studies of photographic
practices that move between the center and periphery of imperial structures.
By December 15, 2011, please submit an abstract of no more than 250 words
and a current cv to: Elizabeth Hutchinson (ehutchin@barnard.edu) and Tanya
Sheehan (tsheehan@rci.rutgers.edu). Note that individuals may not
participate in more than one session at the ASA meeting.
ACRAH 