Key research themes
1. How did early Serbian photographers contribute to the development and national identity of photography in the region during the 19th century?
This theme investigates the pioneering role of early Serbian photographers who introduced and established photography in Serbia and the surrounding regions during the 19th century. It focuses on the technical, cultural, and socio-political contributions of these photographers amidst the broader context of national revival, urban modernization, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire’s influence. Understanding these origins is essential for tracing the roots of Serbian photographic traditions and their interplay with identity formation.
2. What role did photographic discourse and criticism play in shaping the understanding and institutionalization of photography in the former Yugoslav and Croatian cultural sphere?
This theme centers on the emergence and evolution of photography criticism, theory, and historiography in Croatia and Yugoslavia from the late 19th century through the mid-20th century. It examines how debates on photography’s artistic status, the professional-amateur dichotomy, and nationalistic versus social themes informed the formation of photography as both an art form and a cultural practice. These discourses helped define the aesthetics, values, and audience of photographic culture in Serbia's neighboring regions, providing a comparative framework for understanding Serbian photography's historical development.
3. How did the socio-political context of Eastern Europe and Yugoslavia influence the development of photographic styles and practices from the mid-20th century to the 1980s?
This theme explores the impact of political regimes, ideological shifts, and social dynamics on photographic production, dissemination, and aesthetics within Yugoslavia and the broader Eastern European region including Czechoslovakia and Slovakia. It focuses on concepts such as political emancipation through visualism, conceptual art strategies under repression, gender hierarchies in photographic recognition, and the role of photography as socio-political commentary or documentation. This area is crucial to understanding transitional and modern photographic movements that shaped Serbian photography’s later evolution in the 20th century.