As part of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation's scholarship program "Museum Curators for Photography", the symposium Cont·Act! will be held at the Museum Folkwang, Essen. It will take place from 16–17 October 2020. The symposium is organized by the current scholarship holders Daria Bona, Sophie-Charlotte Opitz and Katharina Täschner. If the further development of the pandemic does not allow the event to be held on site, we will aim to hold it in an online format instead.

Photographs are the result of decision processes. They are conditioned by actions and reactions and are therefore at the intersection of a multitude of contacts: Technically, moments of contact shape the products of various analogue processes, while the idea of contact has long been used to theoretically grasp photography’s supposed promise of authenticity. In the process of taking a photograph, on the other hand, photographers enter a situational relationship with their motifs. This relationship can be evidence of observed distance as well as intentional approach. However, it is already determined by the conditions of this encounter whether taking a photograph increases or decreases agency; thus whether images have an empowering or a disempowering effect. In this context, mediating bodies such as institutions, the press and social media also play an important role by influencing the dissemination or suppression of certain images. And in turn they are often themselves affected by political and socio-cultural bodies.

In times of a global crisis, this reflection on the implications of Ariella Azoulay’s concept of the "Photographic Encounter" takes an unexpected turn. Covid-19 proves to be a disease that challenges our social behavior in many ways: Collectivity in physical places increasingly turns into connectivity in virtual space. Isolation from the outside world, which comes along with a massive increase in content generation, is changing the visual culture and existing power constellations can be confirmed or challenged. This certainly raises the question: how can images be created of something that one should not come into contact with? Also: what kinds of images are currently being circulated to bring people into contact with one another? Which paths are taken to rethink the image in crisis? At the same time, the economic effects of the disease are overshadowing other areas of concern that continue to exist: media reporting largely ignores the humanitarian situation of refugees, climate change, famines, and wars.

Once again, photographs thus emerge as "agents of interaction" (Lethen 2014). But even in the face of a global pandemic, traditional viewing habits and photographic practices must be further investigated and examined for new dynamics. The symposium Cont·Act! is dedicated to these very dynamics that arise from people communicating and acting through images. We are asking to what extend photography can be understood as a multi-layered action structure based on the idea of contact, and to what extend this approach highlights spaces of negotiating agency. Looking back on the current situation, the conference in October will certainly offer the opportunity to evaluate the last six months. It will also address other case studies: Which kinds of ideological structures are already manifest in the emergence of a photograph? Which forms of photographic self-empowerment already exist – or (re)formulate themselves now – and how can they shape a visual culture in a state of upheaval? Which functions and tasks are attributed to (photographic) images in order to support social interaction?

In addition to invited guests from the arts and the humanities, the organizers of the symposium Cont·Act! would like to invite scholars, photographers, artists and curators to present their ideas and projects. This call for papers also specifically addresses early career researchers and artists. Contributions may deal with the following questions:

  • What role does photography play within contemporary and historical, political and social protest movements as well as in exceptional situations?
  • Where do gaps and shifts within the established system open up spaces of visual agency and how are these spaces being used?
  • How do counter-images emerge, formalize, and move? How do they become visible and usable?

In reference to Covid-19:

  • Which possibilities, strategies or changes result from the physical, economic, cultural and social impairments and how do different protagonists in the photographic field (re)act?
  • To what extent is it even possible for freelancers and other people to work and deal with photography in the current situation? Which solidarity strategies are being developed?
  • How are institutions acting differently – especially regarding exhibition practices, modes of presentation and collection policies? In which (alternative) circulation processes do they participate?

Please send a written proposal of max. 300 words for an approximately 20-minute contribution in German or English together with a short biography to:
[email protected]

Submission date is 15 May 2020.

The conference languages are German and English. Travel expenses can be partially covered if they are not covered by the institution of the contributor. Hotel expenses are covered by the organizers.