Colour Fever

25 October -5 November 2021

Taking James Clerk Maxwell’s experiments as a launching point, this event seeks to expand the field of knowledge surrounding the experimentation, invention, reception and exhibition of colour photography from 1855 to the present day. The event will take an interdisciplinary approach to the topic of colour photography, considering its historical development, present-day practitioners and place and preservation within contemporary collections.

Organised by Catlin Langford, Curatorial Fellow in Photography, supported by The Bern Schwartz Family Foundation, at the V&A, this event aims to increase understandings around colour photography in relation to the museum’s significant holdings of colour works. This aligns with an ongoing project to research and digitise the V&A’s autochrome holdings, which will inform an upcoming publication with Thames & Hudson.

We are planning to run this event as a fortnight-long online celebration of colour photography. It will involve a series of talks and a conference. Given the present-world situation and to encourage accessibility and international participation, the event will be presented entirely online.

We welcome proposals for papers which can include, but is not limited to, the following themes:
- The search for colour: development and experimentation in the early years of colour photography
- Early and contemporary approaches to colourisation
- Perceptions and opinions surrounding the introduction and practice of colour photography
- Collaboration and circulation through societies and networks of colour photographers
- Advertising colour photography: companies, competition and commercialisation
- Colour photography: art vs amateurism
- Dilemmas and solutions in publishing colour photography
- Notable historical and contemporary practitioners of colour photography
- Preservation and conservation of colour photographs in contemporary collections

The paper should be pitched for a presentation of 10 to 20 minutes.

We welcome proposals from academics, museum professionals, students, researchers, conservators and practitioners. We particularly welcome proposals from those at an early stage of their career.

The deadline for submissions is 15 July 2021. We aim to make a decision by 10 August 2021.

Please send a 300 word abstract and 100 word biography to the following address: vari@vam.ac.uk