Cologne Media Conversation and Master Class

"What is it to write history in a photographic age? This is the opening question of my new book in which I argue that the existence of photographs in the historical landscape disturbs some of the deep-seated concepts underpinning the practice of history - such as distance, scale, context or materiality. In this conversation I hope to use this argument as a springboard to explore its significance for historical practices, from museum narratives to academic writing."

A visual and historical anthropologist, Professor Edwards has worked extensively on the relationships between photography, anthropology and history, on the social practices of photography, on the materiality of photographs and on photography and historical imagination. She has previously held posts as Curator of Photographs at Pitt Rivers Museum and lecturer in visual anthropology at the University of Oxford, and at the University of the Arts London. She is currently working on late nineteenth and early twentieth century photographic societies and networks of photographic knowledge, on the market in ‘ethnographic’ photographs across scientific and popular domains in the nineteenth century, and the relationship between photography and historical method.

Friday, 21 January 2022 | 10.00 am | on Zoom

Please click here for the Zoom Registration

For contact & registration for the CMC Master Class (Thursday, 20 January 2022, 6.00 – 7.30 pm) please email Christoph Lange ().

The lecture will be accompanied by a Master Class for undergraduate and graduate students on Thursday 20 January from 6.00 - 7.30 pm. All interested please contact Christoph Lange ( to get the zoom link and the course reading.