[Commlist] cfp: Violence! - Philosophy of Photography

The editors of Philosophy of Photography invite contributions to a 
special issue: Violence!
 Photography’s ubiquity means that it touches all realms of life. 
Indeed, it has arguably taken on a new and fundamental characteristic as 
the way that things emerge in heavily technologized societies. Violence 
is undoubtedly a determining category of this mode of society. Is 
violence, then, photographic? If so, is this a contingent fact or a 
necessary condition?

The generality of these claims and questions means that answering them 
cannot be limited to one or other form or idea of the visual 
representation of violence. Nor can this endeavour be exhausted by 
reinterpreting existing photographic practices and their engagement with 
violence. Whilst critical approaches to representation and appeals to 
exemplary historical practices continue to be important, the question 
remains: do the debates and critical applications that have grown around 
them prove limited in the face of this new twist in the relationship 
between violence and the photographic?

What of the often made claim that photography is per se necessarily 
violent, insofar as it is interruptive and generally entails the 
assertion of one viewpoint over another? With the growing ubiquity and 
effectiveness of autonomous imaging apparatuses and operations, plus the 
networked condition of the contemporary image, the sheer scale, scope 
and reach of today’s photographies place all of the terms in such 
diagnoses into question. Do we not, at the very least, need to reassess 
our concrete, imaginative, historical and philosophical antecedents?

But what, in this context, is one to make of the historical force of the 
photographic image as a prime disruptor of inherited cultures and as a 
counter to imposed political order? What of the disorderly image, the 
iconoclastic or self-consciously violent image, not to mention 
historical moments of violence done to images in the name of political 
resistance and social critique. Can recalling such interruptive 
precedents help? Might it suggest that our projection of a newly 
refigured relationship between photography and violence harbours 
possibilities and promises, and not just threats? Might it open onto the 
imagination of newly disruptive image-entities that enable 
transvaluation of existing norms and offer insight into the generalised 
conditions of violence that face us all to a greater or lesser extent?

What would it be to take the ubiquity, scale and reach of contemporary 
photography seriously in, through and as violence? What does it mean to 
understand the photographic as co-formative of a world shaped by 
violence? Can rethinking photography in these terms help us to 
understand a violent world that we suppose ourselves to share but cannot 
really grasp as such? If so, how might we have to refigure existing 
approaches to understanding both photography and violence? And how, 
crucially, might one address these questions without denaturing actual 
violence or further co-opting its experience?

Contributions might be in the form of articles, reviews, critical 
commentaries on particular events or images, proposals for roundtable 
discussions, artworks or other kinds of intervention. We actively 
encourage submissions from a wide range of academic contexts and 
critical methodologies. We warmly welcome photographic and other 
artistic contributions. No payment from authors is required.  The 
special issue will appear in Autumn 2022. The deadline for submissions 
is Sunday July 30th.
 If you have any questions about this call for contributions, would 
like to discuss a possible submission or to make a proposal, please 
contact the editors as early as possible at: 
(philosophyofphotographyjournal /at/ gmail.com).

More information on the journal, the journal style guide and the journal 
submissions portal can be found at: 
https://www.intellectbooks.com/philosophy-of-photography.


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