The memory of photography

Abstract

Photography is often linked to memory as an issue of its failure. While the question of what is missing or what cannot be seen in photographs emphasizes what might be called a negative relation to memory, this nevertheless obscures the productive role of photographic images within culture as mnemonic devices. This paper addresses the specific contribution that the invention of photography has made to the relation of memory and history. The consequences of photography on these domains are as important for photographers as they are for historians and critics. © 2010 Taylor & Francis.