Photothek

With its interwoven strands of archival practice and academic research, the Photothek has established itself as a leading laboratory for the international, cross-disciplinary debate on the role and function of photographs and photographic archives in scholarship. The postulated nature of photographs as objects, and the emphasizing of the archive as epistemological dimension, are central to the Photothek's projects and research initiatives.

Projects
Team

Projects

Photo-Objects, Cultural Displays, and Rhetorics of Value

Systems of value impact the lives of photographs as well as the work practices in art-historical photo archives.

Photography as Instrument and Medium of Art History

Historic photographic collections created with the purpose of art-historical documentation are also documents of the methods and the history of the discipline.

Cimelia Photographica

'Cimelia Photographica' is the term used in the Photothek for photographs dating from before or around 1900, which possess a historical intrinsic value. These photographs are treated as singular objects with their own materiality and a biography.

Photo Archives

'Photo Archives' is an open series of international scholarly activities dedicated to the interaction between photographic archives, photography and academic disciplines.

Objects of Migration, Photo-Objects of Art History: Encounters in an Archive

Objects of Migration, Photo-Objects of Art History: Encounters in an Archive is a joint project by the Photothek and the artist Massimo Ricciardo. It links questions of the archive with burning issues of global migration, rhetorics of value and cultural heritage.

'La duplice polarità estetica e storica' - Method, Aesthetics and Function of Photographs in the Work of Restorer Barbara Schleicher

From 1960 to 2014 the internationally renowned restorer Barbara Schleicher (*1937) worked for the Soprintendenza, churches, and museums all over Tuscany.

Studies on the Photography, Laboratory, and Archival Practice of Anton Hautmann around 1860

Anton Hautmann, who was born in Munich in 1821, settled in Florence as a sculptor in 1849, where he was also active as a photographer from 1858 until his death in 1862. As one of the pioneers of stereoscopic photography, he is best known for his views of Florentine architecture and the cityscape.

On Alinari: Archive in Transition

Artist Armin Linke participates in a dialogue between theory and practice that examines and questions the process of institutionalizing photographic archives.

The Photographers’ Sales Catalogue Collection of the Photothek

Photographers’ Sales Catalogues are essential sources for the study of professional photographers, photographic ateliers as well as the photographs themselves since they contain important information concerning techniques, circulation, dating and attribution.

Photo-Objects – Photographs as (Research) Objects in Archaeology, Ethnology and Art History

Taking the material aspects of photographic practices in the humanities as a starting point, this project investigates the scholarly potential of photo archives in museums, universities and research institutes from a comparative viewpoint.

Team