Watching, Waiting. The Photographic Representation of Empty Places

The Institute of Art History and Oris House of Architecture invite you to the presentation of the book Watching, Waiting. The Photographic Representation of Empty Places (Leuven University Press, 2023), which will take place on Friday, April 19, 2024, starting at 6:00 p.m. in the premises of Oris House of Architecture (Kralja Držislava Street 3, Zagreb).

Watching, Waiting. The Photographic Representation of Empty Places was edited by Sandra Križić Roban and Ana Šverko and published by Leuven University Press in October 2023 as a print edition and in open access. The editors conceived the book based on selected presentations from the conference Watching, Waiting – Empty Spaces and the Representation of Isolation, held as part of the Discovering Dalmatia VI program in 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The book is one of the results of the HRZZ project Exposition. Themes and Aspects of Croatian Photography from the 19th Century until Today, and its financing was supported by the Croatian Science Foundation, Leuven Fund for Fair Open Access, and Adris Foundation.

The presentation will be opened with welcoming words by the director of the Institute of Art History, Katarina Horvat-Levaj, and the book will be presented by architect Marija Barović and anthropologist Lana Peternel, as well as the editors Sandra Križić Roban and Ana Šverko.

The book will be available for order at a promotional price during the presentation.

From the reviews:

— Today, we are slowly forgetting the state of consciousness at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the time of isolation and empty spaces is behind us. However, reading this book does not have the effect of recalling that state; rather, it serves to recognize the concept of emptiness as a scientific research topic, confirming a series of studies of exceptional authenticity and excellence that, overlapping and complementing each other, form an interdisciplinary mosaic of knowledge. A group of researchers and artists, inspired by isolation, loneliness, detachment, remoteness, and absence, found inspiration in photography — be it artistic, vernacular, conceptual, documentary, architectural, archaeological, ethnological, landscape, street — whether historical or contemporary. They use it as a means to interpret visual, historical, and social phenomena. By becoming aware and critically examining numerous negative social phenomena and their consequences, such as racism, colonialism, imposed and authoritarian historical narratives, and the extreme inequalities produced by the power structures of neoliberal capitalism, the authors in this book advocate for equality, unity, equity, and social solidarity.
Ana Šeparović, Život umjetnosti 112, no. 1 (2023): 144-149.

— “Watching, Waiting: The Photographic Representation of Empty Places” is a timely, interdisciplinary contemplation on what photographs of empty spaces mean and evoke. It is highly recommended to researchers and artists interested in the history, politics, and aesthetics of representing empty spaces.
Theopisti Stylianou-Lambert, Associate Professor, Cyprus University of Technology, Cyprus / Museum Lab leader, CYENS Centre of Excellence

— “Watching, Waiting: The Photographic Representation of Empty Places” offers a timely and engaging selection of essays that addresses the new role of photography during the last years of pandemic lockdown. Importantly, the volume brings forth reflections on how the photographic medium has worked to create lines of connection between people in isolation and crisis. But it also discusses the way photographs are used to encounter and meditate emptiness and desolate urban spaces – in a way that recalls the early works by Niépce and Daguerre. A highly valuable contribution to the ongoing expansion and enrichment of photography studies!
Sigrid Lien, University of Bergen, Norway

— The editors are to be congratulated for this collection, which was conceived at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. We are reminded of a range of ways in which photography has been used to document separation and seclusion in times of turmoil.
Liz Wells, Emeritus Professor in Photographic Culture, University of Plymouth, UK

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Contact: Ana Šverko, Sandra Križić Roban