History of Photography (journal)

History of Photography (journal)
Title	History of Photography
Discipline	Photography studies
Language	English
Publisher	Taylor & Francis
Country	United Kingdom
History	1977–present
Frequency	Quarterly
Issn	0308-7298

History of Photography (journal) History of Photography is a peer-reviewed academic journal devoted to the study of photographic practice, technique, institutions, and visual culture. It publishes research on historical developments in photography across periods and regions, engaging with archival materials, artists' oeuvres, museum collections, and exhibition histories. The journal serves scholars working on subjects ranging from early photographic processes to twentieth-century documentary projects and contemporary retrospective studies.

Overview and scope

The journal covers scholarship on pioneers such as Nicéphore Niépce, Louis Daguerre, William Henry Fox Talbot, Anna Atkins, Julia Margaret Cameron, Hippolyte Bayard, and Gaspard-Félix Tournachon (Nadar), while also addressing work on later figures including Eadweard Muybridge, Mathew Brady, Timothy O'Sullivan, Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans, and Weegee. Regional and institutional studies examine archives held at The National Archives (United Kingdom), Bibliothèque nationale de France, George Eastman Museum, Victoria and Albert Museum, and Tate Britain, alongside research on photographers like Man Ray, Cindy Sherman, Ansel Adams, Imogen Cunningham, Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz, Gordon Parks, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Robert Capa, Lee Miller, Irving Penn, Diane Arbus, André Kertész, and Brassaï. The scope also encompasses technological histories referencing the calotype process, daguerreotype, albumen print, collodion process, and photomechanical reproduction, while engaging institutional contexts such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Smithsonian Institution, Getty Research Institute, and Royal Photographic Society.

Founding and early history

Established in 1977 by scholars and curators linked to institutions including the Victoria and Albert Museum, George Eastman Museum, and Royal Photographic Society, the journal emerged during a period of renewed academic interest comparable to initiatives at The Photographic Quarterly and contemporary programs at Courtauld Institute of Art. Early issues featured studies of nineteenth-century practitioners such as Roger Fenton, Francis Frith, Oscar Gustave Rejlander, Thomas Wedgwood, and investigations of archive collections from National Portrait Gallery (London), Flickr Commons-era donor institutions, and private collections associated with figures like John Herschel and Samuel Morse.

Editorial leadership and contributors

Editorial leadership has included scholars and curators affiliated with University of Oxford, University of Leicester, Institute of Fine Arts (New York University), Courtauld Institute of Art, Royal College of Art, and the University of Westminster. Contributors range from historians of photography such as Gillian Rose, Geoffrey Batchen, Elizabeth Edwards, Colin Harding, Martin Parr, Mary Warner Marien, and Helmut Gernsheim to curators at Museum of Contemporary Photography, International Center of Photography, and Victoria and Albert Museum. The journal has published essays by specialists in related fields including art historians tied to Princeton University, Yale University, Harvard University, and University College London.

Publication format and frequency

Published quarterly by Taylor & Francis, the journal issues thematic and general-number editions in print and online. It follows conventional peer-review procedures overseen by an editorial board connected to institutions such as the Getty Research Institute, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and the Royal Photographic Society. Back issues and special issues are available in academic libraries including Bodleian Libraries, British Library, Library of Congress, and research centers like Courtauld Institute of Art and Getty Research Institute.

Notable articles and special issues

Special issues have focused on topics including the invention of the daguerreotype, colonial photography in contexts such as British Empire collections and French colonial empire archives, the rise of photojournalism tied to events like the Spanish Civil War and Vietnam War, and thematic dossiers on portraiture involving subjects like Queen Victoria, Abraham Lincoln, and Napoleon III. Notable articles have reassessed bodies of work by Julia Margaret Cameron, Walker Evans, August Sander, André Breton-associated surrealists, and investigations into photographic technologies associated with Frederick Scott Archer and Fox Talbot Photographic Papers. Other issues engaged debates around exhibitions at Museum of Modern Art, retrospectives at Tate Modern, and catalogues raisonnés produced by institutions such as the George Eastman Museum.

Reception, impact, and critical assessment

The journal is widely cited in scholarship on photographers including Henri Cartier-Bresson, Man Ray, Ansel Adams, Diane Arbus, Lee Miller, Robert Frank, Sally Mann, Nan Goldin, Garry Winogrand, Richard Avedon, and in institutional studies of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and Museum of Modern Art. Critics in periodicals like The Burlington Magazine and reviewers at academic conferences hosted by College Art Association have recognized its role shaping curricula at Courtauld Institute of Art and Royal College of Art. Debates published within its pages have influenced conservation practices at the National Portrait Gallery (United Kingdom), digitization policies at the Library of Congress, and exhibition programming at the International Center of Photography.

Indexing and availability

The journal is indexed in bibliographic services including Arts & Humanities Citation Index, Scopus, and databases maintained by ProQuest and EBSCO Information Services, and available through academic subscriptions held by libraries at University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Columbia University, New York University, and research institutions like the Getty Research Institute and British Library.

Category:Photography journals Category:Academic journals established in 1977