Authors: Dewan, Deepali; Hackett, Sophie

Source: Photography and Culture, Volume 2, Number 3, November 2009 , pp. 337-348(12)

Publisher: Berg Publishers

Abstract:

This article—formatted as a conversation between two curators—concerns affect photography and museum collections. Sparked by studio portraiture in the Jhabvala Collection of South Asian Photography in the Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto, the authors explore the concept of "cumulative affect" and reflect on the possibilities of applying current scholarship on affect to museum collections. They argue that it is the conventions in a genre like studio portrait photography, and its repetitive nature, which define its affective force. The idea of "cumulative affect" is in direct contrast with claims that have been made about other kinds of photographs, such as images of violence, which argue that overexposure decreases the impact of such images leading to a desensitized and disaffected viewer.

Keywords: CUMULATIVE AFFECT; STUDIO PORTRAITURE; JHABVALA COLLECTION

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2752/175145109X12532077132518

Publication date: 2009-11-01

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