UAL Photography Research Exhibition: Private View

Contributors include: Jananne Al-Ani, Mervyn Arthur, Bernd Behr, Paul Bevan, Lewis Bush, Beverley Carruthers + Jane Woollatt, Sarah Dobai, Itai Doron, Neil Drabble, Jennifer Good + Harry Hardie, Max Houghton, Tom Hunter, Wiebke Leister, Martin Newth, Sophy Rickett, Daniel Rubinstein, Corinne Silva + Martina Caruso, Paul Tebbs, Esther Teichmann, Duncan Wooldridge

What is photographic research? Is a photograph research? Is a photograph a form of research in formation? Is a photograph a gesture? An act? An analogy? An apparition? A program? An algorithmic artefact? What kind of research object is photography?

This is the inaugural exhibition of the University of the Arts London (UAL) Photography Research Forum. It brings together for the first time practice and research in photography from across the University.

The work on show exemplifies the experimental, critical and interdisciplinary thinking that questions the boundaries of the medium, and the cultural and critical context of the image.

Photography, possibly more than any other medium, is characterised by a longstanding cross-fertilisation of fine art and applied practices. The most exciting practice in all sectors is heavily influenced by the critical, conceptual and aesthetic thinking that underpins fine art, and leading photographers as well as artists see the exhibition space as a natural home for their work.

Photography research at UAL, whether practice-led or academic, has been at the forefront of this interrogation of the medium, and its varied manifestations across culture. This exhibition is accompanied by a Symposium that explores the changing definitions of photography addressed by the work in the exhibition.

Curated by Anne Williams and Duncan Wooldridge