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| Conference poster |
On
Friday 30th May I presented an illustrated paper at the Anthropology and Photography conference at the
British Museum, organised by the Royal Anthropological Institute. My paper
'Excavating images: a photographic response to an archaeological excavation'
was selected for inclusion in the Archaeology and Photography panel, convened
by Dan Hicks (Oxford University) and Lesley McFadyen (Birkbeck). I gave a draft
of this paper in March at a TVAD research seminar, and the feedback from
colleagues helped to develop the paper, which references my experience as an
Artist in Residence during an excavation last summer.
Here
is my abstract:
In 2013 Timespan Heritage
Museum in Scotland commissioned photographic artist Carolyn Lefley as their
Artist in Residence during the excavation of a longhouse ruin. This paper
explores the relationship between photography and archaeology, referencing
Lefley’s methodology and photographic output.
This illustrated paper
examines the parallels of the process of excavation, of peeling back the layers
of earth to reveal evidence of the past and the indexical quality of a
photograph to record reality. What is interesting about most excavations is
that the site being revealed pre-dates the invention of photography.
Lefley collaborated with
archaeologists to make a photographic response to the excavation. Fieldwork was
combined with research exploring notions of home, the Highland Clearances
(including diaspora and migration), excavating and documenting, art and
archaeology. Out of this research and time spent daily at the dig, Lefley made
new work using a variety of photographic techniques to create new artefacts
that now sit alongside the findings of the excavation in the museum. The paper
concludes with a presentation of the photographic output from the excavation.
‘The Diaspora Stones’ are a new collection of pseudo photographic fossils
exploring key themes linked to the excavation, including abandonment, home and
migration. ‘The Descendants’ are a series of photographic portraits taken at
the dig site, which reference the tradition of the human scale in
archaeological photography.
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| The Diaspora Stones, Carolyn Lefley, 2013 |
The
Archaeology and Photography panel
was in a more relaxed setting in a seminar room in the Clore Centre, at
the British Museum. The chairs were arranged in a semi-circle, which encouraged
dialogue. It was an encouraging, yet critically engaged group, including
academics and practitioners from across the disciplines of art, photography,
anthropology, archaeology and heritage, with many knowledgeable across all of
these fields. Colleen Morgan (University of York) presented
'Archaeological Photography as Dangerous Supplement?'. Colleen states in
her abstract: "Archaeology has a long, complex, and fascinating
entanglement with photography, a relationship that continues into the digital
age. To understand the florescence of digital photography in archaeology, we
must inhabit an interdisciplinary space, a space that lies between the compound
field of visual studies and archaeology but that also attends to issues of
representation, authority, and authenticity”. Colleen's paper beautifully
summed up this interdisciplinary space of visual studies (and visual art) and
archaeology. Another paper addressed this notion directly: ‘Dust on the Lens: Intersections in
Archaeology and Art Photography’ Ursula Frederick (Australian National
University). Ursula’s excellent paper looked the work of Australian
photographers who “think and practice archaeologically”. Antonia Thomas
(University of the Highlands and Islands) presented an engaging,
well-written biography of photographs of the Brodgar Stone and explored “the
role that photography plays in constructing archaeological narratives”. Helen Wickstead (Kingston University,
cofounder of the Art+Archaeology http://www.artarchaeology.org research
group) and Martyn Barber (English Heritage) presented ‘Drawing on
Photographs: Aerial Photogrammetry and Virtual Mapping, 1865 to 1900’. This
paper interrupted “the assumed visual equivalence between aerial photographs
and maps by highlighting the work that has been necessary to allow aerial
photographs to operate like virtual maps”. The full list of papers in this
panel can be seen here: http://www.nomadit.co.uk/rai/events/rai2014/panels.php5?PanelID=2938
There is not enough space in this blog post to
discuss all of the papers in this panel, let alone the whole conference (which
had an overwhelming amount of parallel panels). I enjoyed being part of this
panel and got some helpful and encouraging feedback on my paper (mainly in the
all-important coffee breaks / wine reception!). I’m hoping some of the
connections I made during the conference will lead to future collaborations.
Highlights from the rest of the conference include:
- The keynote by Elizabeth Edwards (De Montfort University) ‘Anthropology and Photography: a long history of knowledge and affect’.
- Panel 27: Archives, Art and Text convened by Barbara Knorpp (Brunel) and Marcel Reyes-Cortez (Goldsmiths).
- Panel 28: Photography as a research method, convened again by Marcel Reyes-Cortez.
- Panel 23: One City, Multiple Stories: Visual Narratives of LondonUrbanism, convened by Kristin Koptiuch (Arizona State University) and Akanksha Mehta (SOAS).
It
was an extremely rich programme, of which I only scratched the surface, because
of all of the parallel panels. The RAI are planning on bringing out a
publication to archive this event, but only a selection of the papers will be
included. I’m going to finalise my paper and as well as submitting to the RAI,
I will also look at submitting this paper to photography journals and online interdisciplinary journals.
Overall, it was a really positive experience, which I’m still processing and
reflecting on. Anthropology and archaeology are not areas that have conscientiously
influenced and informed my practice until the residency last summer, which has sent me on a
trajectory into new areas.
Here
are the slides I used to illustrate my spoken paper: http://www.slideshare.net/lefley/excavating-images-carolyn-lefley-2014
An interesting synergy of photography and archaeology is represented on the RAI flickr site for this panel, where my works sits alongside the work of delegates Antonia Thomas and
You
can read about my Art/Archaeology residency from last summer here: http://timespan.org.uk/category/carolyn-lefleys-blog/)
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