“The camera has offered us amazing possibilities… We are only beginning to exploit them; for although photography is already over a hundred years old, it is only in recent years that the course of development has allowed us to see beyond the specific instance and recognize the creative consequences.” —László Moholy-Nagy

This declaration by Moholy-Nagy, one of the most influential practitioners and a progenitor of contemporary photographic education, resounds as much today as when it was uttered in 1925. Photography is again at an unprecedented historical threshold, unlike any in its 170-year history. It is this moment that will be explored in The Photographic Universe II, a two-day conference organized by Aperture Foundation and The New School—including the School of Art, Media and Technology at Parsons The New School for Design and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics. It follows on the success of the first conference held in 2011.

The unique format of the conference will consist of one-on-one conversations between two individuals from disparate professional and research backgrounds. Each speaker will present a ten-minute presentation on the subject of photography, followed by twenty-minute dialogue responding to each other’s presentation.

Wednesday, April 10 – The Technical Image

9:00-9:30 a.m. – Introduction
9:45-10:45 a.m. – Katrina Sluis with TBA
11:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. – Marvin Heiferman with Andreas Velten
1:00-2:00 p.m. – Laurel Ptak with Andrew Norman Wilson
2:15-3:15 p.m. – Mia Fineman with Fred Ritchin
3:30-4:30 p.m. – Thomas Keenan with Ariella Azoulay

Thursday, April 11 – The Cultural Image

12:15-1:15 p.m. – Todd Cronan with Simon Critchley
1:30-2:30 p.m. – Doug Rickard with TBA
2:45-3:45 p.m. – Victoria Hattam with Hito Steyrel
4:15-5:15 p.m. – Lynne Tillman with Eduardo Cadava
5:30-7:00 p.m. – Round table on Photography Education: moderated by Jeanine Oleson, with Becca Albee, Allen Frame, and Song Tae Chong

Location:
Theresa Lang Community and Student Center, Arnhold Hall, 55 West 13th Street, 2nd floor

Admission:
Free; no tickets or reservations required; seating is first-come first-served

Sponsors: AMT, The Vera List Center for Art and Politics, NSPE, and the Aperture Foundation

Image by Jeanine Oleson from “The Shore is Still in the Sea” (January 13 – 28, 2012)
Solo exhibition at Commonwealth and Council, Los Angeles