Photography in Culture

Photography in Culture is a Norwegian research project (2003-07) funded by the Research Council of Norway.

The main theme of the project is the many diverse functions of photography. Since its introduction in the 1840s photography has played a significant role in a multitude of social and cultural contexts: Photographs have been used for social classification and control, for scientific registration and journalistic documentation, for construction of individual, local and national histories and identities etc. Everyday life in a modern society is permeated with photographic representations that influence and shape our understanding of the world and of ourselves.

Photography in Culture focuses on a selection of central photographic functions and photographic forms of representation. The individual studies that make up the project have their point of departure in close analyses of concrete images or texts. All studies trace the complex connections between photographic forms of representation and social, historical and cultural contexts. Some studies work within a limited historical time frame, other are concerned with significant changes in photographic functions and forms over longer periods of time.

In addition to being analytical contributions to the cultural history of photography, the studies serve as a basis for further theoretical reflection about photographic representation. Of special concern is the question of how «The Photographic» has been understood over the years under varying technological conditions and in varying social contexts.