Overview
Multiperspective approach towards photography as a nomadic device and photographs as mobile objects of circulation. From its introduction in the early nineteenth century and through ongoing technical developments, photography has been a mobile medium closely tied to equipment, social conditions and cultural framings. The volume Nomadic Camera investigates the technical, medial and aesthetic relationship between photography and displacement in historical and contemporary perspectives. The contributing authors adopt the term ‘nomadic’ – signifying a transitory form of existence – to explore photography beyond static concepts of being and national boundaries. Viewing photography as a formative part of this history of mobility and migration, the book explores the interplay between the concepts of the ‘nomadic’ and the ‘camera’, offering new perspectives on photography as a medium on the move. The interdisciplinary contributions approach this topic from various angles. They examine photographic tools and technologies; investigate the role of bodies, agents, and performative acts in photographic practices; explore how photography constructs and conveys narratives of movement; and address issues of image circulation, archiving, and memory.
Full Product Details
Author: Burcu Dogramaci (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität Munich) ,
Winfried Gerling (University of Applied Sciences, Potsdam) ,
Jens Jäger (University of Cologne) ,
Birgit Mersmann (University of Bonn)
Publisher: Leuven University Press
Imprint: Leuven University Press
Weight: 0.907kg
ISBN: 9789462705029
ISBN 10: 946270502
Pages: 400
Publication Date: 02 March 2026
Audience:
General/trade
,
General
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
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Reviews
This collection of essays drawing from history, media studies, art, art history, and ethnology offers a thoughtful analysis of the “nomadic camera” in the context of migration, flights, and displacements. The nomadic camera understood as both a tool to record and a concept to reflect upon migration complicates the usual narrative we have of migration, but also of photography. - Laurence Cuelenaere, cultural anthropologist and photographer In our challenging age of global migrations, displacements, and exiles, this book is a very timely publication. Opening a broad spectrum from documentation and tourism to surveillance and warfare, its contributions map a wide range of photographic practices. In rich ways, they nuance our understanding of social realms that are shaped by the camera; and they do so in a truly global perspective. Photography may capture fleeting moments and arrest them in time. Technologies, people, images, and meaning, however, remain a nomadic matter. This essay collection represents an indispensable point of departure for all who are interested in such mobilities. - Steffen Siegel, Folkwang University of the Arts
Author Information
Burcu Dogramaci is Professor of Art History and Director of the Käte Hamburger Research Centre global dis:connect at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München. Winfried Gerling is Professor of Concepts and Aesthetics of New Media in the Department of Design at the University of Applied Sciences in Potsdam where he works in the European Media Studies Program jointly run with the University of Potsdam. Jens Jäger is Professor of Modern History at the University of Cologne. Birgit Mersmann is Professor of Contemporary Art and Digital Image Cultures at the University of Bonn.
