HAA 178M - Photography as Medium

Robin Kelsey

When photography emerged in 1839, it was not just another medium. It trampled the boundaries of art, expression, creativity, and depiction, raising troublesome questions that still haunt us today. In our consideration of photography, we will consider medium in the round, encompassing the word’s ways of designating an art form, a means of communication, an enveloping substance, a middle position, and a channel between worlds. We will thread our inquiry through the history of photography, spending much time in Harvard’s collections, honing our understanding through the examination of particular objects and archival traces.