CfP: Visual History Now: Using photographs to study the history of gender, sexuality, and space

Much like historical texts, historical photographs need particular tools, competences, and methods for analysis to unfold their making, uses, and reception. And just like texts, photographs can be used in multiple ways to answer diverse questions. If we want to think beyond textual sources, what are the means to analyse this form of visual? How can we make sense of historical photographs and interpret their content for historical analysis?

We invite scholars who are using historical photographs in their research on gender, sexuality, and space to gather and present their papers at the Visual History Now Conference. We hope to receive abstracts for papers that, for example,

– use innovative methods to approach historical archives, combining photographs and other sources
– queer the methods of analysis of gender and sexuality in historical photographs
– scrutinize, by which means we can extract information from photographs
– provide a novel take in approaching materiality in the photographs
– incorporate affect-based approaches in photographic analysis
– propose inventive uses of photography for public history
– offer other inspiring perspectives that ignite new paths to study visual history

The engaged keynote speakers are Professor Elspeth Brown, University of Toronto, and Academy Research Fellow Tiina Männistö-Funk, University of Turku.

You may propose a single paper or a panel with 3-4 papers. Please include in your one-page submission

– Title and an abstract of a paper (300 words)
– The title of a proposed panel (if any)
– Short bio (100 words)
– Contact information

Please submit your proposal by March 31, 2026, to picme@tuni.fi. We will notify you about the decisions by April 15th, 2026.