Dr. Camilla Balbi (postdoctoral fellow, IAH CAS)
A Forgotten Media Interest: Erwin Panofsky and Photography

The invited talk took place on Wednesday, February 28, 2024, at the Institute of Art History of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, as part of the Collegium Historiae Artium lecture series (CHA).

This talk by Dr. Camilla Balbi delves into the persona of Erwin Panofsky, one of the most important art historians of the last century, from a new, mediological perspective. Drawing from Balbi's forthcoming book, 'Erwin Panofsky and Modernity: Painting, Photography and Film', the discussion will focus on Panofsky's exploration of the photographic medium.
A remarkable aspect of this analysis lies in Panofsky's efforts to understand the medium beyond its artistic realm. The pages devoted to the interplay between painting and photography extend to medial considerations of their social applications, be they scientific or museological. This exploration navigated the urgent theoretical debates of the time, engaging in dialogue with renowned personalities such as Max Sauerlandt, Siegfried Kracauer, and Heinrich Schwarz.

The lecture unfolds the historical and theoretical layers in Panofsky's writings on photography. It deals with the interplay between originality and reproduction and the nexus between knowledge and visualization. Finally, the lecture explores the impact of Panofsky's exploration of photographic technique on the birth of iconology, revealing a surprising connection between his reflections and the ethos of contemporary Bildwissenschaft.

The talk was introduced by Dr. Katarína Mašterová (IAH CAS).

This talk was a part of the 'Photomechanical Talks' cycle, organized in cooperation with the 'Matrix of Photomechanical Reproductions: Histories of Remote Access to Art' project, which is being implemented at the Institute of Art History between 2023 and 2027. The project is supported by the Lumina Quearuntur grant.

www.photomatrix.cz
www.udu.cas.cz

Video: Zoom recording
Editing: Anežka Pithartová