Paper by PhD student Louise Atkinson published in a new e-book

Louise Atkinson, a current practice-based PhD student in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies, has recently had a paper published in Looking at Images: A Researcher’s Guide, an e-book produced by Winchester School of Art and the AHRC.

This online publication showcases a wide range of topics and approaches about what it means to be engaged in visual methods and image research. The book includes case studies of individual research projects, overviews of practical methods and technologies, and representation from different perspectives of practice and non-practice-based research. The field of image studies is interdisciplinary in scope and considers visual communication in and as research within the arts and sciences.

Looking at Images: A Researcher’s Guide was an AHRC-funded project that ran throughout 2014. The project addressed the development of skills in image-related research, prompting dialogue between and within art and design, and media and communication. Two workshop events, featuring a panel of guest speakers, were open to postgraduate and early career researchers working in these disciplines. The project culminated in a launch event at the British Library, for a collaboratively produced ‘Researcher’s Guide’ e-book. As a living archive, this publication welcomes new article submissions at any time: see contributor guidelines.

Louise’s paper The Genealogy of the Image looks at the use of images as mnemonic and networked devices, from the early catalogue reproductions of David Teniers through to the work of Aby Warburg and into the digital realm. These studies consider the reproduction image in relation to the dissemination of the art object, as well as an artwork in its own right. Her paper developed from her PhD research and was first presented at a conference at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, in July 2014. The conference was held to reflect on the 25th anniversary of the exhibition Magiciens de la Terre, and focused particularly on the intersections and developments between the fields of art and anthropology since 1989.

Louise said:

‘My contribution to Looking at images: A Researcher’s Guide reflects my ongoing interest in visual anthropology and interpretation as art. Such interpretations also take the form of art writing and I regularly publish my research online as an autoethnography of my practice. This catalogues my research and making process within the context of a practice-based PhD at the University of Leeds.’

Looking at images: A Researcher’s Guide is edited by Jane Birkin, Rima Chahrour and Sunil Manghani and can be accessed here on the Winchester School of Art website.

You can also read Louise’s blog here.