Foto-Objekte

Photographs are not only pictures but also three-dimensional, material objects. They can be handled, rotated and turned around. In the course of their existence, they are inscribed, stamped, cut up and otherwise processed - before and after they enter one of the four archives presented here. They continue to 'live' in their ecosystems by being deposited, sorted in and rearranged, sometimes cut and thrown away. The photo-objects themselves interact with archivists and researchers, as well as with the artists whose perspectives complement the present publication. The social relevance of these actions gives rise to the political dimension of each photo archive.
This volume presents the results of the collaborative project Photo-Objects - Photographs as (Research) Objects in Archaeology, Ethnology and Art History, which was funded by the Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung as part of the funding initiative The Language of Objects - Material Culture in the Context of Social Developments from March 2015 to June 2018. Partners were the Photothek of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz - Max Planck Institut, the Kunstbibliothek and the Antikensammlung, both belonging to the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin – Preußischer Kulturbesitz, and the Institut für Europäische Ethnologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.

Artists: Johannes Braun & Toby Cornish, Ola Kolehmainen, Joachim Schmid, Elisabeth Tonnard and Akram Zaatari

Design: Andreas Trogisch, Heike Grebin (troppo design, Berlin)