HomeProject and Photography

Project and Photography

Projet et photographie

Les Cahiers de la recherche architecturale, urbaine et paysagère

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Published on Tuesday, August 14, 2018

Abstract

Ce dossier sera structuré autour de deux thématiques principales : comprendre la commande et les finalités de la photographie au sein des agences et des institutions publiques, interroger les collaborations entre photographes et concepteurs dans les démarches d’élaboration et de communication des projets.

Announcement

Coordination

Dossier coordinated by Frédéric Pousin, architect and Director of Research at CNRS, and Sonia Keravel, landscape architect and Lecturer at ENSP Versailles.

Argument

Since its inception, photography has been sought after for spatial planning. After all, weren’t Nadar’s first aerial snapshots intended to be used for mapping[1] purposes? Whether it be the mythical Mission Héliographique, or Eugène Atget’s photos acquired by Marcel Poëte in Paris’ Historical Library, photography contributed to the development of an archive that would serve to support heritage policy during the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. The archive, however, doesn’t appear to be the sole purpose of photographic order. After World War II in France and elsewhere, public commissions aimed to be a service to national territorial politics. Photography saw itself become integrated into means of communication geared towards a larger public as it ensured the promotion for reconstruction and modernization of the country[2]. The photographic mission of DATAR that played out from 1984 to 1988 advocated for the integration of art and culture into planning. Photographers were even called upon to give a sense of meaning to the landscape of deindustrialization[3]. Since the DATAR mission[4], numerous public commissions have sprung up throughout Europe, creating a space for diversified production in the form of archives, collections, exhibitions and publications[5].

Departing from this backdrop, in which structural links are drawn between approaches to planning and photography, this dossier seeks to further examine the convergence of photography and landscape projects on the one hand, and architectural projects on the other. We put forth the hypothesis that the use of photography differs according to the scale and nature of the conceived spaces and projected plans, but also that a continuum links architecture and landscape. Questioning the place of photography in one field will thus shed light on the other and vice versa.

Designers have increasingly opened up the possibilities for photography. For example, architects’ use of photography as a foundation for their plans, or as a basis for the creation of photomontages dates back to practices that originated in France’s Second Empire[6]. If we consider that Mies Van Der Rohe was experimenting with his first photomontages in 1910, we recognize that the golden age of photomontage, which characterizes Europe’s avant-guard movement, also concerns architecture. Model photography was additionally a cornerstone in the work of architects, particularly in Italy in the 1930s. Since the beginning of the 20th century, certain architects even used personal photography collections in order to document their projects.

After the end of the World War II in France, landscape architecture saw itself restructured, becoming more closely linked with urban planning. Public space became a priority, and the scope of such projects expanded to the territorial level. Historically, landscape architecture was hardened into the field of Garden Art, but with the growth of city planning, parks came to be seen as both urban and public. Park projects represented important levers in the development of cities in Europe and America. As they interacted with planning, projects in this field reached new heights – take, for example, in France today, the Community of Communes, natural parks, or departments. Photography plays an important role in prospective landscape studies, generating specific uses by designers[7] as well as original collaborations between photographers and landscape architects[8]. But is what can be observed in France, such as the Observatoires photographiques du paysage (landscape photographic observatories), original in character? Opening up this question to go beyond national boundaries will bring interesting insights for comparison.

Like exhibitions, publications in primarily professional journals serve as a media outlet for landscape and architecture, already having given way to numerous studies[9]. This current dossier is particularly concerned with the place of photography in these publications, comparing the convergences or divergences from one field to another: architecture and landscape.

This dossier will be structured around two primary themes: understanding the order and purpose of photography within agencies and public institutions, and questioning the collaboration between photographers and designers in their approaches to developing and communicating projects.

The order and purpose of photography within agencies and public institutions

Photography plays a major role in professional structures and, as a tool for representation, must therefore be understood. To which orders does photography give rise? What uses of photographic images can we observe within private agencies? Photography is a statement, conveying inspiring images, or allowing for us to track change. And let us not forget about the particular case where a designer, himself a photographer, accompanies his design activity with photographic work.

Public works also deserve our attention here - like regional natural parks that have integrated the use of photographic archives, the CAUE (County centers for Architecture, Urbanism and Environment) which render architecture and landscapes more important, or even metropolitan urban planning agencies that put into place a photographic order. By closely observing projects and institutional contexts, we find that the place of photography never remains the same. It can be summoned at different moments in time: from the first glimpse of a site to the communication of a finished project, following the story of the unfinished worksite, inspirational photographs, among other projects[10].

What is the state of photography today? The appeal of digital images offers new potential for photomontage. What is the place of infographic designers and perspectivists in the workplace? What relationships do they maintain with photographers? In the age of 3D printing, how are photographic models used[11], and to what end?

In order to shed light on understanding the diverse uses of photography, research can be carried out in the workplace, inter alia.

The collaboration between photographers and designers in their approaches to developing and communicating projects.

In Giovanni Fanelli’s overarching work dedicated to the history of architectural photography, he highlights the relative autonomy of these professions from one another from the 1930s to the 1970s. At the end of the 1970s, however, photographers increasingly appeared as linked to architects, whereby partnerships were established between photographers and architects: take, for example, Hélène Binet and Zaha Hadid, Richard Pare and Tadao Ando, Herman Hertzberger and Johann Van der Keuken. This collaboration, the partnerships between photographers and designers, occurred at the discretion of the projects and shared likeness. Here, we propose to explore this relationship in all its diversity. Although these relationships often take the form of a certain order, the role of the photographer is never just operational[12]. Given that the moment of collaboration between photographer and designer varies, photography takes on different roles when put into practice[13]. The photographer’s interpretation of the project, the images, are not only there to promote a finished work and to serve as a means of communication, but can even surprise a designer, allowing him to rediscover his own project and uncover aspects that may once have been ignored [14].

Through published works, or even the development of a communication strategy[15], the role of journals can be examined with particular attention. To study collaboration inevitably leads us to envision professional hybrids. At the international level, landscape agencies and urban planning agencies alike allow for the sharing of skills. We thus put forth the hypothesis that photography plays a role here, and that it cannot be reduced to just the communication sphere of projects and finished works.

This dossier is calling on researchers within schools of architecture, landscape architecture and photography as well as communities of historians of art and architecture, researchers from urban planning institutions and visual culture departments. It seeks to bring together case studies that contribute to fields of architecture, landscape architecture, or both. Problematized and cross-cutting approaches to the suggested themes will be welcome, as well as transnational approaches which allow for national cases to be put into perspective.

Procedure for the transmission of draft articles

Proposals for articles will be sent by e-mail

before 31 december 2018

 to the Cahiers de la recherche architecturale, urbaine et paysagère’ editorial office secretariat-craup@culture.gouv.fr

For more information, contact Aude Clavel on 06 10 55 11 36

The articles must not exceed 50 000 characters, including spaces.

Languages accepted: French, English.

Articles must be accompanied by:

- 1 biobibliographical record between 5 to 10 lines (name and first name of the author (s), professional status and / or titles, possible institutional link, research themes, latest publications, e-mail address).

- 2 abstracts in French and English.

- 5 key words in French and English.

Instructions to authors

1 / General rules

Italic: words in foreign languages in relation to the language used, therefore op. cit., Ibid., cf., a priori, a posteriori, etc.

No use of bold (with the exception of titles) nor capitals (with the exception of the beginning of proper names, institutions, capitals for titles in English, etc.).

2 / Body of the text

The text must be entered in the Word software, using Times New Roman, size 12, line spacing 1.5, without any special formatting, except titles, headings, captions and paragraph breaks.

3 / Quotations

Quotations of less than 3 lines will be inserted into the text and placed between quotation marks.

Quotes of more than five lines will be indented to the left and right, size 10 (not 12), and without quotation marks.

4 / References

The bibliographical references will be grouped according to author’s name alphabetical order at the end of the article in a section titled "Bibliography", according to the following model:

  • For a book: First name Last name, Title, City of publishing, Publishing house (Collection), year of publication, page.
  • For a collective work: First name Last Name and First name Last name of dir./coord./eds./etc., Title, City of publishing, Publishing house, year of publication, page, or First name Last name et al., Title, City of publishing, Publishing house, year of publication, page.
  • For a chapter of a collective work: First name, Last name, (dir./coord./eds./etc.), Title, City of publishing, Publishing house, year of publication, page.
  • For a journal article: First Name Last Name, "Article Title", Journal Title, Vol./N °, Date, City of publishing, Publishing house, year of Publication, page.
  • For electronic reference: First name Last name, “Title of article”, Journal title, vol./n°, date, [online] [url], accessed on [date].

5 / Illustrations, charts and tables

The photographs accompanying the text should be scanned in high definition (300 dpi, 15 cm minimum) in Jpg or Tiff formats. Text files will be distinct from graphic files.

The author must verify that the images / figures of which he is not the author are free of rights.

Otherwise, he must apply to the owner of the image / figure before submitting it to the magazine.

Illustrations, charts and tables must be legendary in a specific way:

  • The title of the illustrations should be placed above the illustration.
  • The legend and credits (source, copyright, etc.) must be placed under the illustration on two separate lines.

Editorial line

Placed in the fields of architectural, urban and landscape research, the Cahiers initially developed from the 1970s in research labs of the French schools of architecture. On becoming an online international journal, the Cahiers initiates today a new formula targeted towards the research communities concerned by intentional transformations of space, whatever the scales. The journal aims at meeting current interests and issues in these fields, seeking to renew them and to open new directions of research. Three main research issues are more directly questioned. One specifically concerns theoretical aspects, in order to develop exchanges and discussions between theories of design, planning, architecture and landscape. Another issue refers to the materiality of the city, the technical know-how involved in spatial transformation, but also the material dimension of of transfer and mobilization phenomena, often analyzed in other journals from a-spatial angles. Lastly, the third issue questions the project and its design, which holds a special place in the sciences and the practice of space (performative roles of projects, theories of practice). These three poles call for interdisciplinary works, dedicated to trace in-depth explanations of the transformations of the built environment at the Anthropocene Era. The expected scientific production refers to common criteria of peer reviewing processes. It could pay a particular attention to the issues of pictures and visual production in a field where images can serve as discourse. 

Thematics folders

Les Cahiers de la recherche architecturale, urbaine et paysagère online issue two or three time a year a thematic folder dedicated to a specific and problematized theme, and which consists of around ten articles in French and English.

A call for papers is broadcasted for each thematic heading. Proposals may be in French or English. The evaluation is peer-rewiewed.

Headings

The online magazine has 2 headings to accommodate miscellaneous articles, and outside thematic folders.

Research news: Various reports: theses, entitlement to supervise research, reviews of works, exhibitions.

Research materials: interviews, practitioners’ discourses, translations, reference texts...

Proposals may be in French or English.

The texts are evaluated and peer-rewiewed. 

Editorial Board

Chief Editor : Fréderic Pousin

  • Manuel Bello Marcano
  • Franck Besançon
  • Gauthier Bolle
  • Enrico Chapel
  • Benjamin Chavardes
  • Laurent Devisme
  • Yankel Fijalkow
  • Sandra Fiori
  • François Fleury
  • Philippe Grandvoinnet
  • Xavier Guillot
  • Caroline Maniaque
  • Beatrice Mariolle
  • Valérie Negre
  • Daniel Siret
  • Helene Vacher

Editorial Assistant

  • Aude Clavel

Notes 

[1] Stephen Bann, “ Nadar’s Aerial View”, in Mark Dorrian and Frédéric Pousin (eds.), Seeing from Above. The Aerial View in Visual Culture, I.B. Tauris Publishers , 2013, Chapter 5.

[2] See Dominique Gauthey, “Les archives de la reconstruction (1945-1975)”, Études photographiques, n°3, 1997 pp. 103-117.

[3] Bertho, R, La Mission photographique de la Datar, un laboratoire du paysage contemporain, Paris, La Documentation française, 2013.

[4] Cf. BNF’s exhibition, Paysages français. Une aventure photographique 1984-2017, catalogue edited by Eloïse Gonessa and Raphaëlle Bertho, Paris, 2017.

[5] F. Pousin, “Photographie, projet de paysage et culture professionnelle”, in La Mission photographique de la Datar. Nouvelles perspectives critiques, Paris, La Documentation française, 2014, pp. 11-127.

[6] According to Giovanni Fanelli, Histoire de la photographie d’architecture, Presses Polytechniques et universitaires romandes, 2016.

[7] See F. Pousin, “Photographier le paysage urbain”, Ethnologie française, vol. 40, 2010 l 4, pp. 673-684.

[8] See A. Petzold, S. Keravel, round table discussion in F. Pousin (ed.), Photopaysage. Débattre du projet de paysage par la photographie, éd. EFFA, Paris, to come out in 2018.

[9] On the digitalization of architecture through photography and publication see B. Colomina, Privacy and publicity: Modern Architecutre as mass media, MIT Press, 1994, and Colomina Beatriz, Buckler Craig, Clip, Stamp, Fold: The Radical Architecture of Little Magazines 196X to 197X, Actar Publishers, January, 2010. On the place of photography in architectural reviews, see Giovanni Fanelli, Histoire de la photographie d’architecture, Presses Polytechniques et universitaires romandes, 2016.

[10] See Frédéric Pousin, Sonia Keravel, Marie-Hélène Loze, Les temps du projet au prisme de la photographie, 2017, [on line] http://photopaysage.huma-num.fr/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/lestempsduprojetweb2.pdf

[11] On model photography in architecture, see Miguel de la Cova Morillo-Velarde, La maquette chez le Corbusier, doctorat thesis, University of Seville/ University Paris-Est, under the direction of Caroline Maniaque and Amadeo Ramos Carranza, Paris Seville 2016. See also Anne-Sophie Perrot, Maquettes physiques de paysage. Entre plan-relief et sculpture : les marges de la pensée plastique, doctorat thesis, University of Paris 1, under the direction de Jean-Marc Besse, 2015.

[12] Maria Antonella Pelizzari, “Nouvelles pistes conceptuelles entre photographie et architecture”, Perspective [On line], 4|2009, put online August 7, 2014, referenced September 30, 2016. URL : http://perspective.revues.org/1275

[13] Sonia Keravel, “Quand la photographie se mêle du projet de paysage. Gérard Dufresne et Alain Marguerit, trente années de collaboration”, in F. Pousin (ed.), Photopaysage. Débattre du projet de paysage par la photographie, op. cit.

[14] Regarding the relationship between Le Corbusier and Lucien Hervé, see Barry Bergdoll, Véronique Boone, Pierre Puttemans, Lucien Hervé, l’œil de l’architecte, Civa, 2005.

[15] The example of Le Corbusier constitutes an emblematic school of thought. Cf. Tim Benton Le Corbusier conférencier, Le Moniteur, Paris, 2007.


Date(s)

  • Monday, December 31, 2018

Keywords

  • projet, photographie, commande publique, aménagement

Contact(s)

  • Aude Clavel
    courriel : audeclavel [at] hotmail [dot] fr

Information source

  • Aude Clavel
    courriel : audeclavel [at] hotmail [dot] fr

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« Project and Photography », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Tuesday, August 14, 2018, https://doi.org/10.58079/10rg

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