Examining Photographic Archives: photographic portraiture as an event
What drives people to sit for a portrait? was a primary question that guided co-curators Elena Volkova and Joe Tropea as they researched the Maryland Historical Society archives for the exhibition Reflections: a brief history of looking at ourselves. In addition to the exhibition, a secondary project was launched, photographing Baltimore residents using Tintypes, a 19th century photographic process. Tintype processes and photoshoots will also be featured in Volkova’s remarks for how they demonstrate the many ways of how the taking of a portrait is an event.
Wallace’s Blacks and Blues archive demonstrates the “Archive as Artwork” medium. This archive and search engine innovates and challenges how modern archives can be curated. It also shows us through photography the experiences, identities, inequalities and injustices of Black life, as well as, how to ethically accumulate primary source documents.
ABOUT THE PRESENTERS
SHAN Wallace is a nomadic award-winning visual artist, photographer, educator and freedom fighter from East Baltimore, MD. Inspired by the harsh racial, social and economic realities of her surroundings in Baltimore, SHAN learned about the importance of service, the power of collaboration and the effects of social change at an early age. Now, she uses her lens, collage and in situ installations as the basis of her work, demonstrating the cultural and political narratives of black life, confronting oppressive politics and histories within communities of the African diaspora, and challenging ideas surrounding existing collections, culture and archives of Blackness. Much of SHAN Wallace's work is focused on the Archive-- its history of development, challenges of the modern Archive, Archive as Artwork and how to ethically accumulate primary source documents.
Elena Volkova is a Ukrainian-born interdisciplinary artist, photographer, and educator. Elena’s creative work focuses on liminality and subjective experiences of the Everyday. She has exhibited nationally and internationally. Elena has been a co-host of a photojournalism podcast, Ten Frames per Second, and has collaborated with the Maryland Center for History and Culture on an exhibition Reflections: A Brief History of Looking at Ourselves. Recently, Elena has been creating portraits using the wet plate collodion process. Elena lives in Baltimore with her family, and teaches photography at Stevenson University.
Credits
This program was co-hosted by the Society of Design Arts (SoDA), AIGA Baltimore and Stevenson University.
SHAN Wallace and Elena Volkova | Presenters
Lori Rubeling | SoDA/Stevenson University Program Leader, Producer and Moderator
Raquel Castedo | SoDA Co-producer and AIGA Baltimore Co-host
Richard Stanley | SoDA Co-host