Each workshop may take a different format; sometimes we will invite national or international speakers/ makers to present on their work; at other times we will explore some of the issues about photographic theory and practice here in the Netherlands. We will also include student presentations, or presentations of research scholars associated with the RCMC. The starting point of the TPL is the over 750,000 photographs in our collections, which represent a long and global history of photographic practices.
The first meeting addressed the question of photographic genres. More specifically, we were interested in unpacking the category of Ethnographic/Colonial photography. We looked critically at the ways in which such a category has come to include - even hide - multiple photographic practices, and asked what the category allows and what it conceals. This question was based on the presentation of Bruna Triana, a Phd student from Brazil who was a Research Associate at the RCMC.
Research Theme: Concept Work
Photo credits: Kazerne at Cape Coast (1870-1890), photographer unknown, from the collection of Dr. Hendrik Pieter Nicolaas Muller (1859 - 1941), TM-60024040