An event on the ethics of reenacting photographs, with Amy D’Agorne, artist and photographer.
In this one-day hybrid event we will explore cases of reenacting photographs. We will discuss what the term “reenactment” might potentially offer in the context of photographic ethics and to what extent it can assist a renewed approach to the ethical ramifications associated with images of colonial histories.
The event will start with an artist talk by Amy D’Agorne, a photographer, who will discuss her practice, the ethical challenges she has faced during the creative process, and how in one of her projects she used reenactment as a tool to overcome certain ethical complexities. Parts of her work can be seen currently at the micro-exhibition Peeling the Paris Green; The Potato Project, curated by Dr Kyveli Lignou-Tsamantani at Refill.CIC, York.
The talk will be followed by a two-part workshop in which participants will have the opportunity to approach a set of questions regarding the ethics of reenacting pre-existing photographs and how this can be utilised as a method to decolonise violent (visual) histories. The first part of the workshop - based on the World Café Method - will involve small group discussions around set questions and extracts from the suggested readings, and will begin by exploring different terms: “reenactment”, “re-photograph”, and “staging” of a photograph. The second part, led by D'Agorne, will be a hands-on group exercise on re-enacting historic photographs.
Workshop participants will receive three suggested readings after they RSVP through the sign-up link, but preparation for this workshop is not required as extracts will be provided during the event.
This Visual Ethics Network (CModS Research Strand) event is funded by the Centre for Modern Studies.
Full programme:
11:00-12:00 – Artist Talk by Amy D’Agorne, followed by a Q&A (in-person & online)
12:00-13:00 – Lunch Break
13:00-14:30 – Workshop Part One: World Café Method discussions, with an introduction by Dr Kyveli Lignou-Tsamantani (in-person only)
14:30-15:00 – Coffee Break
15:00-16:30 – Workshop Part Two: Reenacting historic photographs, group activity led by Amy D’Agorne (in-person only)
Relevant Readings:
- Ariella Aïsha Azoulay, “Towards the Abolition of Photography’s Imperial Rights”, in Capitalism and the Camera: Essays on Photography and Extraction, edited by Kevin Coleman and Daniel James (London: Verso, 2021), 27-54.
- Erina Duganne, “Staging”, in Global Photography. A Critical History, by Erina Duganne, Heather Diack and Terri Weissman (New York: Routledge, 2020), 39-44.
- Rebekah Modrak, “Reenactment as a Photographic Act”, in Reframing Photography: Theory + Practice (London: Routledge, 2011), 204-215.
- Martha Rosler, “The Second Time as Farce”, Idiom Magazine, 21 February 2011, http://idiommag.com/2011/02/the-second-time-as-farce/ (accessed 5 May 2023).
- “Performing for the Camera: A discussion between Susan Butler and the exhibition selectors Tony Arefin and Maureen O. Paley”, in Photography As Performance. Message through Object & Picture (Exhibition Catalogue, The Photographer’s Gallery London, 11 September-18 October 1986), 7-16.
- Sven Lütticken (ed), Life, Once More: Forms of Reenactment in Contemporary Art (Exhibition Catalogue, Rotterdam and Amsterdam: Witte de With and Idea Book, 2005).