CfP: Trans Asia Photography: Images at War (Special Issue)

Date of event:   30/06/2022 − 30/06/2022

Title: Trans Asia Photography: Images at War
Deadline: 30 June 2022
Editors: Deepali Dewan (Royal Ontario Museum and University of Toronto), Yi Gu (University of Toronto), Thy Phu (University of Toronto)
Published by: Duke University Press

Trans Asia Photography is the first and only open-access international peer-reviewed journal devoted to the interdisciplinary exploration of historic and contemporary photography from Asia and across the Asian diaspora. The journal examines all aspects of photographic history, theory, and practice by centering images in or of Asia, conceived here as a territory, network, and cultural imaginary. Bridging photography and area studies, the journal rethinks transnational and transcultural approaches and methodologies. By centering photographic practices of Asia and its diasporas, the journal foregrounds multiple ways of seeing, knowing, and being, which are distinct yet inseparable from other regional formations. The journal brings together the perspectives of scholars, critics, and artists across the humanities and social sciences to advance original and innovative research on photography and Asia, and to reflect and encourage quality, depth, and breadth in the field’s development.

Articles are published under a Creative Commons license (BY-NC-ND) and are open immediately upon publication. Authors are not charged any fees for publication and retain copyright and full publishing rights without restrictions in their articles. Readers may use the full text of articles as described in the license.

Photography shapes how imperial wars in and across Asia are seen and unseen; influences how the violence, dislocations, and devastations wrought by these wars are regarded or disregarded; and mediates what is remembered and forgotten about wars and their aftermaths. More than simply enabling the representation of war (through the production, circulation, and consumption of images of war), photography plays an active role in the waging of war. This special issue explores the relationship between photography and war by tracing the wide-ranging functions and effects of images at war. Critics, writers, and photographers are invited to contribute research articles, short reflection essays, exhibition reviews, and portfolios that critically reframe photography’s role in waging imperial wars in and across Asia.

Trans Asia Photography welcomes submissions that examine topics including (but not limited to):

  • The right to look and the right not to be looked at
  • Propaganda
  • Repression, suppression, secrecy
  • Digital platforms and the governance of visual misinformation and disinformation
  • Drone visualities
  • Visual verification
  • Visual alliances
  • The militarization of photography
  • The militarization of spectatorship
  • Spectacle and ordinariness
  • Archives and counter-archives of war and its memorialization

The editors at Trans Asia Photography have been contemplating this special themed issue for some time and take note, with heartfelt sadness given recent events, that this issue remains as relevant and urgent as ever. We hope that this special issue provides new insights and perspectives that enable readers to critically engage with the history of photography and contribute to the visual literacy of war broadly.

The deadline for submission of completed drafts of research articles (5000 words max) or short papers (2000 words) is June 30, 2022. Research articles will undergo a double-blind peer review process. Authors will be notified of the results of peer review by September 1, 2022. Please direct all inquiries to: transasiaphotography@gmail.com. Accepted articles will be published in TAP’s May 2023 issue.

For more information, please visit the website here.

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