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MEDIT Seminar: The Past is a Different Time Zone

Speaker: Gary McLeod (Falmouth University/Hosei University)
Time: March 29 (Thursday), 15:30-17:00
Place: M-213

Abstract

Rephotography is an increasingly common photographic strategy that involves identifying and returning to the vantage point in a previously made image (a ‘then’ image) and making a new photograph from the same place (a ‘now’ image). As old as photography itself, but helped by the proliferation of digital cameras and social media, rephotography can be a powerful and persuasive tool for illustrating the passing of time. However, time is too often used as an indicator of change fostering nostalgia and introspection when proactivity and engagement are more in need. Following an overview of rephotography’s history, from its origins in the natural sciences to its cultural applications, this talk takes a look at rephotography as a sustainable and informal visual practice of re-entering the past responsibly.

About the speaker

Gary McLeod is a practising photographer and academic from the UK but lives and works in Japan. He is currently Assistant Professor of Visual Arts at Hosei University (in Tokyo) and Module Leader of the online MA Photography program run by Falmouth University (in the UK). Having received his PhD in 2016 from London College of Communication, University of the Arts London for a practice-led research thesis titled “An Unfolding Voyage: Rephotography and the Challenger Expedition”, his interests extend to visual methods/methodologies and participatory/collaborative practices, where he specifically focuses on rephotography and its applications within contemporary photographic practices. He is currently writing a book about rephotography for Bloomsbury as part of a series edited by Liz Wells.

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