So I wrote a bit of Photographic History

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Michel Hardy-Vallée

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Well, let me explain. In 2005, I was working full-time, and moonlighting in various photography projects, hanging around APUG (as it was then called). I eventually did my MA in literature, and procrastinated by reading all sorts of photobooks and technical stuff, many of which was fed by my frequentation of forums.

So that at some point, I was wondering: since I'm Canadian, Whither Canadian Photography? There's Jeff Wall, but...

I inquired about a famous, yet obscure photographer:
https://www.photrio.com/forum/threads/whatever-happend-to-john-max.20908/

Meh. Guess I had to find out for myself. So my procrastination turned into a PhD in art history. Long story short, I defended in June 2019, got my degree, and last week, some of this research got published in History of Photography:
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03087298.2020.1771052

If you're not familiar with academic journals, usually the more forthright the title (e.g. Nature), the more the authority. There's nary an academic library with decent shelves in the arts and humanities that does not stock this journal. It's pretty much everywhere.

Not that it changes everything overnight. Like most things academic, it's under most people's radar, and that's fine. There's plenty of other things to think about these days.

But the real kicker for me is that what I did is now part of the permanent record: when someone else in this domain is scouring the journals to get a sense of what's out there, I'm there. Just like I relied for my research on all the stuff that had been published before, sometimes out of sheer luck/obsession/rage/dedication.

And you know, there's a little something of APUG (well, now Photrio, but I'm getting old!) in this. If it hadn't been for all the discussions I had around here, I would have been much more isolated, much less stimulated to find out more about photography. And yes, that old thread is cited in my PhD dissertation (it's going to be online within a year or two, you'll see).

So here's for you all: if you're interested in photographic history and/or Canadian photography, you can bypass the paywall and download the article free of charge from the journal's website using this link:
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/J9F6X62SZIWEVMX65EBE/full?target=10.1080/03087298.2020.1771052

There's a limited number of downloads, but I thought there might be someone out there who could be interested. If you're out of luck, PM me...
 
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MattKing

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Bookmarked for later.
Well done Michel.
I wonder if there is anything academic about the subject of photography, isolation and the counter-acting effects of internet fora?
 

Deleted member 88956

Looks interesting, yet I see no free download option at link provided, only a $44 cheapest one. Hard to comment on that as I wish I could see what it says.
 

gordrob

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Congratulations on your Phd. I know that a lot of time, effort and dedication goes into reaching that goal. Well done.
Gord
 

Raphael

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Congratulations !
I would want to read your publication, but it seems the tandfonline site is on maintenance for the day, no luck !

Regards,

Raphael
 

Tom Kershaw

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AgX

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This link doesn't seem to get me behind the paywall.

I did not succeed either. This either may be due to the maintenance work at the site or due to only a limited number of free downloads that already has been exhausted.
 
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Michel Hardy-Vallée

Michel Hardy-Vallée

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I did not succeed either. This either may be due to the maintenance work at the site or due to only a limited number of free downloads that already has been exhausted.
PM me.
 

cjbecker

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Congrats, like you said, there is so much good history here.
 
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Michel Hardy-Vallée

Michel Hardy-Vallée

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Hey Photrio, there's a new PDF for you to download freely, because they have completed the issue of the journal:
https://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/J9F6X62SZIWEVMX65EBE/full?target=10.1080/03087298.2020.1771052

And I'm making the cover!
COVER.jpeg
 

Tel

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Congratulations on the PhD and (more) the article. Concordia?
 
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Michel Hardy-Vallée

Michel Hardy-Vallée

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Congratulations on the PhD and (more) the article. Concordia?
Yes, Concordia indeed. My supervisor was Martha Langford.
 
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Michel Hardy-Vallée

Michel Hardy-Vallée

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wiltw

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Well done! In these days of the internet there are far too many web statements made in error, with little authentication of claims made.
 
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Michel Hardy-Vallée

Michel Hardy-Vallée

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Do you ever run into Roy Cross? An old friend and devotee of silver halide...

No, I was in Art History and he's at the cinema school. But I had a chance once to go inside the Concordia darkroom. It was built just at the beginning of the 2000s I think, so it was both super-modern and full of analogue equipment. And vast, too!
 

Tel

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Roy's been working on developing motion picture film in caffenol, with some success.
 
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