Purdue University: [re]connect Postmodern Documentary Photography Exhibition

Documentary photography has long been perceived as a depiction of reality and truth. This form of photography was thought to be less of an art or expression of an idea, and more of a technical process of capturing the reality of a moment, an experience, or a situation. But the advent of the digital technology age in which images are constantly being manipulated, and the development of "in-between" genres, have made this simple perception inadequate. The symposium, to take place at Purdue University in West Lafayette, IN, will include lectures and panel discussions by internationally recognized artists and art historians addressing the current trends in all or some of the following topics in postmodern documentary photography: Documentary Form, Documentary Subject Matter, Self Representation as New Reality, Challenging Ethical Norms, Digital Manipulation, Re-enactments, and Appropriation. It will seek to gain richer understanding of as well as to define what postmodern documentary photography is. This symposium is organized by Min Kim Park, Assistant Professor of Photography at Purdue University, and co-developed in collaboration with Dr. Oh Soon-Hwa, Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Photography and Digital Imaging Program at the School of Art, Design, and Media (ADM) at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Min Kim Park, director of Postmodern Documentary Photography Exhibition, discusses conceptual aspects of show and symposium. The reception at Purdue University with comments by the artists on their work is included.