Publishing Photography: materialities, narratives, assemblages
Colégio dos Jesuítas, University of Madeira, Funchal, Portugal
November 19 – 21, 2025
The International Conference of Photography Studies to be held on 19 – 21 November 2025 at Colégio dos Jesuítas, University of Madeira, Funchal, Portugal, invites proposals on Publishing Photography: materialities, narratives, assemblages.
An initiative of the Regional Secretariat of Economy, Tourism and Culture, ICNOVA—NOVA Institute of Communication, and the University of Madeira, this edition aims to explore different expressions, strategies, and media for publishing photography.
We invite submissions that address the diverse challenges and dimensions of publishing photography, focusing on works that engage distinct materialities, narratives, and forms of assemblage to resist reified image practices.
Proposals for oral presentations, artistic research workshops, performance presentations, and other forms of expression are welcomed in Portuguese, English, or Spanish, with a duration not exceeding 20 minutes, and a range of topics, including:
- The disseminated printed photographic image (i.e. illustrated press, books, magazines);
- Practices of publishing as strategies of resistance: the photo-book as a poetic medium;
- Non-canonical or hybrid formats: the relationship between printed images and digital environments;
- Established narratives and peripheral visualities;
- Archival orders: publishing as an ‘unarchival’ gesture;
- Art, activism and public histories;
- Collaborative projects: shared authorships;
- Ecological processes in the edition of images;
- Images as data streams: ubiquity and the poetics of montage.
Submission guidelines:
We invite proposals for 20-minute presentations with:
a) Title and abstract of 500 words maximum (no references), and 3-5 keywords;
b) The name of the author with current affiliation, contact details (email and mobile) and a short biographical note (around 200 words). This should be sent in a separate document.
The two documents (abstract, contact details and bio) should be sent to photographyconference@fcsh.unl.pt in Word format, no later than 30th May 2025.
Notification of acceptance will be sent by 30th June 2025.
Other details:
– Communications, Portuguese, English, and Spanish languages are accepted.
– Artistic/hybrid presentations should be a maximum of 20 minutes and include audiovisual, sound, or performative actions. These proposals might be accompanied by a 3-4 minute short excerpt or an illustrated description, together with the abstract, keywords, and bibliographical references if needed. In all cases, a biographical note should be sent (around 200 words).
– Sessions will be organised based on thematic affinities, regardless of their nature (academic/artistic/hybrid); all papers will be considered equally valid academic outputs.
– Accepted proposals will be validated through registration, but no fees shall be applied.
For more information and conference updates, please visit the website: https://icps.fcsh.unl.pt/
Questions may be sent to the official conference email.
Important Dates:
– Deadline for submissions: May 30, 2025
– Notification of authors: June 30, 2025
– Conference dates: November 19 – 21, 2025
+ info: https://icps.fcsh.unl.pt/
Open Call Document ENG / Open Call Document PT
