Contemporary Photography and the Index

• Credit value: 30 credits at Level 7
  
• Convenor: Professor Patrizia Di Bello

The photographic image has a direct, causal relationship to the subject matter that was necessarily present in front of the camera when the picture was taken. Unlike a painting, a photograph cannot be made from memory or from the imagination. This characteristic has been described by Peirce as 'indexicality' - the way a photograph points (like an index finger) to its referent - and the term has become how many writers on photography formulate its unique quality as an image. This module considers this term not only in the context of semiotic theory, but also of its history. 

Recently, digital technologies, which do permit to create a 'photograph' using a computer's memory and the imagination of the software user, have caused a renewed interest in photography and the index. Images, however, have always been manipulated, whether through darkroom techniques such as the nineteenth-century 'Combination Print' or through the use of collage and watercolour in family-albums. Do these techniques destroy the indexicality of a photograph? Is the 'indexicality' ever really the key to its meaning, or a guarantee of its truth as a document? The course considers how different writers have theorised this special relationship, in different historical contexts. Students are asked to test theories against photographic practices - how photographs looked like, were taken, circulated and used in everyday, personal or domestic life; or in spheres seen as more public and institutionalised, such as fine art. 

Like all MA options, this module is seminar based. You are expected to have read the essential reading before the session, and come to the seminar prepared to engage in a critical discussion of its key points, in relation to relevant images. Classes are supported by gallery visits and tutorials on the essays. Essay topics are chosen to reflect the student's interest in a specific period, genre or theoretical text. Students who are new to the history of photography should familiarise themselves with the topic by consulting one of the histories of photography available in Birkbeck Library.