Research in Photography

Dr Graham Wilson

Image: Waiting for the chimes - Lyn Newton LRPS

To many people ‘education’ means ‘teaching’, and there are certainly a vast number of ‘taught’ photography courses in the UK and elsewhere, both online and offline. While there are some higher and further education institutions where the predominant activity is teaching, the older universities and a growing number of the newer ones also have a strong commitment to ‘research’. It is a widely held belief that the quality of the teaching in a university will be better if the lecturers are also engaged in research, and this is as true of photography as any other discipline.

What then does ‘research’ look like in a photographic context? As David Bate, Professor of Photography at the University of Westminster, explains; “All photographers already do research whether its technical, historical, theoretical etc. It is part of the job. I don't know any photographer who doesn't.” The importance of this research skill is emphasised by Prof Simon Standing, Associate Head of the School of Art, Design and Architecture at the University of Plymouth; “Photography can engage with any facet of society and, due to its ability to engage an audience through a universal language - visual representation - it has a powerful role to play in helping us understand the world around us, to engage us in questioning our fundamental knowledge of the world, and to present alternative perspectives to those of other disciplines.”

In academic settings, students learn to do this kind of subject-, issue-, or causerelated ‘applied research’; it is an essential skill that is rarely taught in the largely practical courses that many photographers attend or subscribe to. Nevertheless, even at GCSE-level the foundations of this kind of research are laid. However, ‘academic research’ goes beyond this by adding to the body of knowledge of a discipline (in our case, photography) and, hopefully, moves it forwards.

After a period in which many technical developments began in commercial organisations (especially within camera manufacturers) or else quickly moved there from academic research laboratories, there is a new demand for innovative technologies. David Bate suggests; “Technically the integration of photography to computing machines, automation etc, means a different framework and context for thinking about photographic images - this cannot be ignored.”

There is still scope for ‘pure research’ to explore the underlying tenets of the discipline. For instance, using a psychological approach to study the different aesthetic responses of viewers to various compositional models and contrast these in colour and monochrome could add to the body of knowledge in photography. Little work of this kind though seems to be happening today.

Practice developments, rather than technological ones, especially across disciplines, are perhaps particularly likely to emerge within academic settings. For example, research into the use of photography in another discipline, such as contemporary anthropology, might allow its practitioners to use photography more effectively as a tool (in other words, it has established ‘current best practice’ for them). It also adds to the body of knowledge of photography, could affect practice elsewhere, and move the discipline of photography forwards too.

In recent years, this latter form of practice-based research has expanded considerably. As Simon Standing explains; “Traditionally the domain of other academic disciplines, there are now many photographers who are undertaking PhDs through photographic practice. All of this has produced fascinating, and challenging, debates about the difference between 'practice' and 'research' in Photography.” The same shift has an impact on the ways in which photographers learn and are taught, which Dr Julia Peck, research lead for photography at the University of Gloucestershire, observes; “Constructivist and postmodern approaches to analysing photographs are still relevant, and very rich, but practiceas-research has become a much more significant activity. This still involves theory but there is a greater understanding of how making can also be research in itself.”

The increasing focus on practice-based research offers considerable scope to improve the impact of photography, which in turn affects the research status of universities and their subsequent funding. Simon Standing points out; “Through what is currently called REF (Research Excellence Framework) and previously RAE (Research Assessment Exercise), universities collate researchers and place their research under scrutiny in order to be rated for the quality of the research and on which grading then leads directly to levels of funding being awarded to the institutions.”

Are there potential downsides to this? Julia Peck describes one of her fears; “I think there is a risk that we're losing skills around reading and engaging with texts. Whilst many photographers will be relieved to not have to read to engage with research, I think our loss as a society will be greater. We need to hold onto attention, reading ability, vocabulary etc. I'm all for new ways of doing things, and for language changing and adapting, but I'm worried about loss of concentration.”

Asked for examples of outstanding research, Julia Peck highlighted Mathieu Asselin's 'Monsanto' - an outstanding instance of investigative journalism supporting a brilliant documentary project with the book demonstrating a commitment to form, design, photography, and underpinning research. Simon Standing selected Yan Preston's ‘Mother River’ project that looked at the Yangtze and is a “classic case in point about what photography can do, as the work provided new perspectives on development in China.”