There is little dispute that photography is a material practice, and that the photograph itself is ineluctably material. And yet “matter,” “material,” and “materiality” have proven to be remarkably elusive terms of inquiry, frequently producing studies that are disparate in scope, sharing seemingly little common ground. Although the wide methodological range of materialist study can be dizzying, it is this book’s contention that that multiplicity is also the field’s greatest asset, keeping materialist inquiry enduringly vibrant—provided that varying methods are in close enough proximity to converse. Photography’s Materialities orchestrates one such conversation. Juxtaposing the insights of theorists like Lacan, Benjamin, and Latour beside close studies of crime, spirit, and composite photography, among others, this collection aims for a productive synergy, one capacious enough to span transatlantic spaces over the long nineteenth century.

There is little dispute that photography is a material practice, and that the photograph itself is ineluctably material. And yet “matter,” “material,” and “materiality” have proven to be remarkably elusive terms of inquiry. Although the methodological range of materialist study can be dizzying, it is this book’s contention that that multiplicity is also the field’s greatest asset, keeping materialist inquiry enduringly vibrant—provided that varying methods are in close enough proximity to converse. Photography’s Materialities orchestrates one such conversation. Juxtaposing the insights of theorists like Lacan, Benjamin, and Latour beside close studies of crime, spirit, and composite photography, among others, this collection aims for a productive synergy, one capacious enough to span transatlantic spaces over the long nineteenth century.
Geoff Bender is assistant professor in the English department at the State University of New York, College at Cortland. Rasmus R. Simonsen is senior lecturer in the Communication Design & Media program at the Copenhagen School of Design and Technology.
"In focusing on the material constituents of photography, this book has its finger firmly on the pulse of contemporary scholarship, offering a political economy of the ’thingness’ of the photograph and with it a new understanding of the role of materiality in modern life." Geoffrey Batchen, University of Oxford
"Photography’s Materialities makes a significant intervention into studies of visual culture by bringing materiality and consequentiality to the forefront of scholarly concern. With a concerted focus on the real, this collection is sure to open up novel and promising avenues of inquiry in visual studies." Laurie E. Gries, University of Colorado at Boulder
“Through wide-ranging interdisciplinary contributions, the volume sheds intriguing light on some of the most familiar chapters of the Euro-American history of photography and demonstrates their contribution to shaping hierarchies based on embodied notions of race, gender, and sexuality. The book provides a provocative and ambitious survey of the capacious potential of exploring the matter of images and of investigating images as objects." Thy Phu, University of Toronto Scarborough

Extensive variety of material approaches to the study of photography and photographic practices