Photography and its Histories Public Lecture Course

‘Odd,’ wrote Roland Barthes in his renowned 1980 study of photography, ‘that no one has thought of the disturbance (to civilisation) which this new action causes.’

Recent years have duly witnessed an explosion of scholarship considering the social and psychological impact of taking photographs. The next Public Lecture Course Photography and its Histories will draw on recent approaches to explore the wide-ranging changes in perception brought about by the technology since its invention in 1839.

How has photography shaped the aesthetic sensibilities and ethical sensitivities of the modern world? Through a series of discrete but related talks by experts in the field, this programme considers how the camera has informed our understanding of art, politics, nature and the self.

Photography and its Histories will take place every Thursday evening from 21 February to 21 March 2019, registration for the course will open at 10am on 21 January 2019.