Thinking through Photographs
June 2020–May 2021
Virtual
Initially developed as an exhibition of questions and prompts, Thinking through Photographs is presented here as a downloadable resource binder. As an accompaniment to UB Anderson Gallery’s yearlong focus on photography, Thinking through Photographs compiles literature on many facets of photography in response to new and enduring debates about the medium’s appeal to truth and reality.
This project is organized around eight topics, each offering a constellation of questions as a way to navigate our image-saturated world. The topics build on one another and shape a multidimensional perspective of photographs as objects and images, as agents of history and instigators of contemporary conversations. As imaging technologies evolve, so does our thinking around what we see and how we see. Hence, we draw on the work of artists, scholars, and teachers who urge us to look in-depth and with care, and offer myriad ways for us to think through photographs.
The University at Buffalo Art Galleries and Silver Eye Center for Photography in Pittsburgh co-hosted a virtual reading group in Fall 2020 and Spring 2021. This free virtual reading group met regularly for eight sessions, covering one topic each meeting. A rotating group of guest artists, curators, and writers facilitated each meeting, bringing their own perspectives and specialties, along with a selection of images for consideration along with the texts. This reading group was designed to be a participatory and accessible convening for all who are curious about photography’s past, present, and future to discuss the most vital issues facing the medium.
Thinking through Photographs: A Virtual Reading Group is organized by Liz Park, David Oresick, Kate Kelley, Leo Hsu, Emily Reynolds, and Jillian Daniels.
Thinking through Photographs is organized by Liz Park, Curator, with Hope Mora, Graduate Assistant, and is designed by Chris Lee. Special thanks to Shannon Ebner and Sara Greenberger Rafferty.