One of Many: An Alternative History of Photography

The birth of photography has long been a contested narrative between the United Kingdom and France, often centred around figures such as Nicéphore Niépce and William Henry Fox Talbot. One of Many opens that conversation outwards, acknowledging that the history of photography is not singular but multiple. Histories are shaped as much by what they exclude as by what they include this project seeks to foreground those omissions and propose alternative viewpoints.

Through a cross-cultural dialogue between France and the United Kingdom, we bring together perspectives from leading curators, scholars, and institutions to explore how photographic histories are constructed and how they might be reimagined.

Invited selectors:
Mark Seally (Autograph), Taous Dahmani (The Photographers’ Gallery), Christine Eyene (Independent Curator), Sergio Valenzuela (ENSP Arles) and Annabel Lacour (Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac).

Biographies

Annabel Lacour (Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris)

Annabel Lacour is a curator and researcher at the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac, Paris. Her work explores the histories of photography, colonial archives and cross-cultural visual histories, with a focus on expanding photographic narratives beyond the traditional Western canon.

Christine Eyene (Independent Curator)

Christine Eyene is an art historian, curator and writer. Her research and curatorial practice focus on contemporary African and Diaspora art, with particular interests in photography, feminism and the politics of representation.

Mark Sealy (Autograph, London)

Mark Sealy OBE is Director of Autograph, London. A curator, writer and researcher, his work examines photography’s relationship to race, representation, human rights and the legacies of colonialism. Through his exhibitions and publications, he has played a leading role in expanding the histories and critical discourse of photography.

Sergio Valenzuela Escobedo (École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie (ENSP), Arles)

Sergio Valenzuela is an independent curator, founder of DoubleDummy and Head of Research at the École Nationale Supérieure de la Photographie (ENSP), Arles. His work spans curating, research and publishing, with a particular focus on contemporary photography, exhibition-making and the critical histories of the medium.

Taous Dahmani (The Photographers’ Gallery, London)

Taous Dahmani is an art historian, curator and writer specialising in photography. Since 2015, she has been curator at The Photographer’s Gallery in London. Her research explores the relationship between photography and politics, with a particular focus on the representation of social struggles, migration, race and feminist histories through the photographic image.

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Supported by: