DARKROOM NETWORKS: Mundane subversiveness for photographic autonomy, 1880s-1900s

Dominici, S. 2021. DARKROOM NETWORKS: Mundane subversiveness for photographic autonomy, 1880s-1900s. Photographies. 14 (2), pp. 265-286. https://doi.org/10.1080/17540763.2021.1877186

TitleDARKROOM NETWORKS: Mundane subversiveness for photographic autonomy, 1880s-1900s
TypeJournal article
AuthorsDominici, S.
Abstract

This article investigates the role of the darkroom in the experiences of British amateur photographers who, between the 1880s and 1900s, chose to process their negatives themselves while travelling. It focuses, in particular, on the reasons underpinning the development of a network of facilities for changing and developing plates available to tourists, and on how photographers’ engagement with this infrastructure expanded its function in ways that implicitly challenged dominant approaches to both photography and travel. It does so by examining the darkroom, first, as an alternative tourist bureau that put travelling photographers in contact with local knowledge, and secondly, as the site of a material culture that empowered photographers. These experiences demonstrate that close to the heart of these practitioners was not simply photographic mobility but, most importantly, photographic autonomy.

Keywordsamateur photography
bricolage
craftsmanship
darkroom
infrastructure
network
photographic autonomy
tacit knowledge
tourism
travel photography
JournalPhotographies
Journal citation14 (2), pp. 265-286
ISSN1754-0763
Year2021
PublisherTaylor & Francis
Accepted author manuscript
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)
Publisher's version
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/17540763.2021.1877186
Web address (URL)https://doi.org/10.1080/17540763.2021.1877186
Publication dates
Published14 May 2021
Supplemental file
License
CC BY 4.0
File Access Level
Open (open metadata and files)

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