27 Mar 2012

Fotomuseum Winterthur: NEW BLOGGER AVEEK SEN

Fotomuseum Winterthur has launched a new English blog on the theory and history of photography. STILL SEARCHING - AN ONLINE DISCOURSE ON PHOTOGRPAHY aims to be a continually growing and developing Internet discourse on the medium of photography that features a multitude of participants. It explores photography's role as a seminal visual medium of our time. STILL SEARCHING is moderated by the Fotomuseum Winterthur and can be accessed via its website: www.fotomuseum.ch or directly on www.blog.fotomuseum.ch

AVEEK SEN, the Indian author, curator and teacher, who is our current blogger (till April 14), wants to open up the discussion on photography towards a realm of the promiscuous – a word he steals from the lexicon of sexuality to use in relation to the creative process. He argues that photography, in order to be a vital creative presence, must draw not simply from its own tradition and history but randomly and 'madly' from other kinds of imagination, discipline, creativity, experience.

In his first blog Sen states, '…photography, like love, is one of those irrepressibly miscellaneous topics of conversation that can't help opening up, in a rather unruly way, into other topics even as one tries to discipline one's thoughts into some sort of purity and rigour.' In his second blog – 'Theory vs. instinct' – Aveek Sen confesses to his love for a photography that is not solely driven and executed by instincts, but is also very much an intellectual affair, whereas in his third blog he elaborates on three external factors that characterize his writing about and his relationship with photography.

STILL SEARCHING is aimed at anyone interested in photography and visual theory. This includes, but is not limited to, academics and professionals. It is supposed to be highly interactive – all are invited to join the debate and comment on the issues raised in the blog.

STILL SEARCHING was launched on January 15, 2012, by the German photo historian and theorist Bernd Stiegler writing about various aspects of photographic realism. The Indian writer Aveek Sen, (March 1 to April 14), US artist Walead Beshty (April 15 to May 31), and Belgian photo theorist Hilde Van Gelder (June 1 to July 14, 2012) will follow until the summer break. Geoffrey Batchen, the photo historian and theorist currently working in New Zealand, will initiate the autumn season (September 15 to October 31).

www.blog.fotomuseum.ch