Session 6: Beyond Institutions: Photography’s Expanded Relations

Besides in museums and galleries, I’ve encountered photographs out in the streets in the form of information boards that tell people about the heritage of a particular place. Seeing the photographs close to the real-life landscape or buildings where an event took place makes the photos feel “alive” for me in a different way; I can better picture what a particular place looked like when having a photo close by to compare features. For example, in Cape Town, South Africa there are boards in Heritage Square with photos and maps to explain what the area was like in the early days of the City of Cape Town, and how the townscape has changed over time. The town of Venaria Reale, part of the Metropolitan City of Turin, Italy, has several boards on significant people and places, for example a courtyard which used to be used to water horses when the Royal Palace of Venaria Reale was the seat of the Savoy royal family.