[Commlist] CFP Darkroom and Representations Conference, National Maritime Museum.

*A reminder that the deadline for abstracts is approaching:*

*CFP: Darkrooms and Representations: Histories of Photography, Film and 
Exploration Conference. *2^nd - 3^rd  April 2020. National Maritime 
Museum, Royal Museums Greenwich, UK.

*Keynote Lectures:*

/A Journey Back to Sub-Zero./**Bryony Dixon, Curator of Silent Film, 
British Film Institute.

/The Nansen Photographs: Images from the First Fram Expedition/. Geir 
Kløver, Director, The Fram Museum.

/Vessels of Memory: Filming and Remembering the First World War Naval 
Battlefield./Dr Lawrence Napper, Senior Lecturer, King’s College London.

*Call for Papers: *The role of photography and film has often been 
relegated to that of illustration, yet its uses - as a visual record, in 
scientific research, education and travelogues – have been varied and at 
times ingenious. From experimentation with technologies in extreme 
environments (telephoto lenses, glass plate negatives, flashlight 
photography, chrono-photography, photomicrography, cinematography) to 
the practices that have emerged through ethnographic studies, 
meteorology, astronomy, oceanography, cartography and the documentation 
of wildlife, the mediation of photography and film has made otherwise 
inaccessible geographies visible. Yet, this ‘window’ on to the world is 
constructed, it is made using materials and techniques which tell a 
story: from a physical trace of the environment to a record of 
scientific and cultural practices. This interdisciplinary conference 
examines the history of maritime explorationthrough film, photography 
and photographers, scientific techniques, artistic practices and in the 
mediation and display of museum collections for exhibition: 
from photographic materials and technologies to the darkroom practices 
that shape visual representations and underpin or counter voyage narratives.

Papers are sought on the histories, theories and philosophies of 
photography, film and audio-visual forms which intersect with narratives 
of exploration: its politics, ideologies (gender, class, imperialism) 
their subversion and subtexts through to its use in educational and 
entertainment forms both past and present. *Topics might include, but 
are not limited to:*

·       experiments and innovations in technology and representation

·       analogue formats and their digital simulacra

·       black and white/ colour photography

·       editing techniques (superimposition, masking, colouring images, 
digital media)

·       photography, film and art in the social and cultural practices 
of expeditions

·       the work of amateur and professional photographers

·       photography and film as evidence, its authenticity and/or 
manipulation

·       material records: can scratches, distortions, detritus be read 
as a record of the making, use and storage of images?

·       historical, political and cultural uses of expedition 
photography and film

·       historiography: photographs as illustration and/or counterpoint 
to official narratives

·       magic lantern slide lectures (scripts, images, performance)

·       photojournalism; postcards, tourism, mementos, portrait and/or 
memorial photographs

·       the curation of photographic exhibitions, film programmes and 
archives

·       documentary and fiction films; the fantastic in nonfiction film

·       photography and film in the temporality and narratives of the 
Anthropocene

There is a history of the materials, technologies and practices that lie 
beneath the surface of each image and its making. For an account of how 
cameras and photographic materials should work, we can consult technical 
handbooks. However, in extreme environments - characterised by excessive 
temperatures, humidity, light and darkness - such technologies sometimes 
stop working and require the practical and innovative adaptations of 
explorers, researchers and artists. This call for papers welcomes 
presentations from scholars, curators and collection managers alongside 
scientific researchers and artists who have worked on Antarctic and 
Arctic Residences, wildlife, documentary filmmakers and archivists who 
engage with the questions of controlled storage environments, researcher 
access, the exhibition of materials and the making of their digital 
simulacra.

*Deadline for submissions: 4^th  October 2019.* Abstracts (c.250words) 
and a short biographical note (c.150words) can be sent to Dr Liz Watkins 
((e.i.watkins /at/ leeds.ac.uk) <mailto:(e.i.watkins /at/ leeds.ac.uk)>) no later 
than 4^th  October 2019. *Accepted papers will be notified by 1^st 
 November 2019.*

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