Nomadic Camera: Photography, Displacement and Dis:connectivities

From its introduction in the early nineteenth century and through ongoing technical developments, photography has been a mobile medium closely tied to equipment, social conditions and cultural framings. The volume Nomadic Camera investigates the technical, medial and aesthetic relationship between photography and displacement in historical and contemporary perspectives. The contributing authors adopt the term 'nomadic' – signifying a transitory form of existence – to explore photography beyond static concepts of being and national boundaries. Viewing photography as a formative part of this history of mobility and migration, the book explores the interplay between the concepts of the 'nomadic' and the 'camera', offering new perspectives on photography as a medium on the move. The interdisciplinary contributions approach this topic from various angles. They examine photographic tools and technologies; investigate the role of bodies, agents, and performative acts in photographic practices; explore how photography constructs and conveys narratives of movement; and address issues of image circulation, archiving, and memory.

Contributing authors: Noemi Quagliati (Ca' Foscari, University of Venice), Florian Krautkrämer (Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Art), Svea Bräunert (University of Applied Sciences Potsdam), Sabrina Moura (Louvre Abu Dhabi), Lara Bourdin (McGill University), Mette Sandbye (University of Copenhagen), Evelyn Runge (University of Cologne), Fabienne Liptay (Universität Zürich), T. J. Demos (UC Santa Cruz), Christina Tente (University of Gothenburg), Ainslie Murray (UNSW Sydney), Stefanie Michels (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf), Anna Messner (Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf), Helene Roth (Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich), Annette Vowinckel (Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History Potsdam), Cathrine Bublatzky (University of Tübingen), Elizabeth Edwards (De Montfort University Leicester).

Burcu Dogramaci is professor of art history at the LMU Munich and director of Käte Hamburger Research Centre global dis:connect.

Winfried Gerling is professor of concepts and aesthetics of new media in the Department of Design at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam where he works in the European Media Studies Program jointly run with the University of Potsdam.

Jens Jäger is professor of modern history at the University of Cologne.

Birgit Mersmann is professor of contemporary art and digital image cultures at the University of Bonn.