Visual History Now
8–9 October, Tampere University
Keynote Presenters:
Professor Elspeth Brown (University of Toronto): Looking Like a Lesbian: Photography and the Making of Queer Worlds
Dr. Tiina Männistö-Funk (University of Turku): Studying the Gendered Street Space through Photographs
Register for the conference by 1 October 2026
View the programme
Conference Theme
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 visuality? How can we make sense of historical photographs and interpret their content for historical analysis?
Visual History Now brings together scholars using historical photographs in their research on gender, sexuality, and space. The conference presentations share research projects and perspectives that:
- 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.
Organisers
Finnish Research Council funded project, The majority without a motor:
Non-motorized mobility, Finnish living environments and spatial equality, 1950–1990
(2021–2027; 341029) led by Tiina Männistö-Funk.
Finnish Research Council funded project Picture Me: Presenting queer
visual history (2025–2029; 368235) led by Tuula Juvonen