MAGNUSSON, Jonas J.; GRÖNBERG, Cecilia (eds.)
OEI #102-103 Photography on Edge

The “Photography on Edge” issue of OEI proposes, on the one hand, a fantastic collection of folios and essays by Geoffrey Batchen, focusing on the “published history of photography” to challenge preconceptions about practices and uses of photography, throughout the history of the medium; and on the other hand, a portfolio of works by Justine Varga, accompanied by a transcript from a 2021 lecture by the artist.

”The published history of photography has long been motivated by a number of key principles: innovation and originality, authorship and nationality, chronology and medium specificity, technical excellence and aesthetic achievement. The folios [in OEI #102–103] offer an alternative way to regard this history. They comprise a series of repetitious fragments drawn more or less arbitrarily from across various photographic practices and genres. In every case, these folios present a photography on edge: tense, nervous, unsure of itself—at least when compared to the self-certainty we encounter in most histories of this medium.
A photography on edge is a photography that escapes the usual definitions. […] One thing is for sure: if they are to be included in future histories of photography, then we will need to set aside our prejudices and presumptions and learn to say what we see, and not just see what we already know how to say.”
—Geoffrey Batchen

* Swedish / English *

Published by OEI editör, 2024
Periodicals / Art Theory / Photography