Symposium Picture Presence

New Conceptions of Space and Place in Contemporary Photography

This symposium takes the solo exhibition of Dirk Braeckman at the Belgian Pavilion of the 2017 Venice Biennale as a point of departure.

Since the late 1990s Braeckman’s work has been affected by the rise and the possibilities of digital media. The shift towards the digital image definitely changed the relationship between the photograph and the space in which a picture is shown. Together with the observation that photography more than ever before interacts with the space in which it is shown, this two-day symposium focuses on the broader relation between photography and the concepts of space, place and spatiality. Whereas space is often defined by an abstract scientific, mathematical, or measurable conception, place rather refers to the elaborated cultural meanings people invest in or attach to a specific site or locale. 

During the symposium artists, curators, and academics from different fields will examine the following key questions:

• How does the photographic image impact the perception and experience of the exhibition space and vice versa?
• How can we define photography’s new spatial possibilities in the digital age?
• How does this shifting photographic “spatiality” transform the way in which photography informs us about contemporary reality?