[Commlist] Conference: Darkrooms and Representations: Histories of Photography, Film and Exploration

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

The*Conference Programme* 
<https://www.academia.edu/41974810/Programme._Darkrooms_and_Representations_Histories_of_Photography_Film_and_Exploration_Conference>**and***Registration 
details* 
<https://www.rmg.co.uk/see-do/exhibitions-events/conference-darkrooms-and-representations>are 
now available.

Registration: Full Fee £80. Concessions £60.

*Conference outline:* 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 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.

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 conference brings together 
presentations from scholars, curators and collection managers alongside 
scientific researchers and artists who have worked on Antarctic and 
Arctic Residences, wildlife, documentary photographers and archivists 
who engage with the questions of controlled storage environments, 
researcher access, the exhibition of materials and the making of their 
digital simulacra. *Read more 
<https://www.academia.edu/41974810/Programme._Darkrooms_and_Representations_Histories_of_Photography_Film_and_Exploration_Conference>*

For further information please contact: Dr Liz Watkins, University of 
Leeds. (e.i.watkins /at/ leeds.ac.uk) <mailto:(e.i.watkins /at/ leeds.ac.uk)>


Dr Elizabeth Watkins, University of Leeds. *Contact:* 
(e.i.watkins /at/ leeds.ac.uk) <mailto:(e.i.watkins /at/ leeds.ac.uk)>

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