Framing the Field: Photography’s Histories in American Institutions is an archival initiative focused on the institutional formation of the field of photography in the United States from the 1970s through 1990s.

Long regarded as a “middle-brow” art, at the turn of the twentieth century, photography emerged as a well-established and popular contemporary art medium.

Join us for a conversation about photograph conservation with Tatiana Cole, Associate Photograph Conservator for the Harvard Art Museums. This talk will focus on the history and development of photograph conservation, different approaches to preservation, and methods employed by conservators when treating photographic materials from the 19th century.

This roundtable investigates photography as a technology of modernity—from its earliest moments to the twenty-first century. It examines the medium’s itinerant character, its role in the visualization of cultural identity and diasporic modes of representation in Africa and the Middle East.

Please join us June 2 for a professional development workshop on Cover Letters. This workshop will offer information on the core components of cover letters for both museum and academic job applications. Leading the workshop will be Leslie Ureña, Associate Curator, Global Contemporary Art, Minneapolis Institute of Art and Emily Voelker, Assistant Professor of Art History, University of North Carolina, Greensboro.

The Photography Network is excited to host a conversation between research-based artists May Babcock and Lindsey Beal, both located in the Providence area.

Our 2023 event series launches on March 17 at 12pm, EST, with a Zoom presentation: Navigating the Archive: Marie Meyerding and Lily Cho in Conversation.

Thursday, December 8, 9 AM PST / 12 noon EST / 5 PM GMT 

Two institutional case studies, from the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) and LACMA / Brooklyn Museum, will explore how curators think about and contextualize permanent collections in ways that will resonate with audiences, advance the institution’s mission, and open further interpretive possibilities.