Discerning Dispossession: Photography and Restitution

The Discerning Dispossession: Photography and Restitution workshop drew inspiration from a “triple history” of photography—as a weapon of oppression, a tool of liberation, and a vehicle of restitution. An interdisciplinary group of researchers, photographers, and historians convened at Yale for a symposium exploring these varied and often competing uses and visions of photography. In a series of workshops and panels, they investigated the history of camerawork as both an apparatus of subjugation and as potential tool of liberation and restitution in historical and legal contexts.

In preparation for the symposium, Yale scholars gathered for three sessions of a multidisciplinary workshop to work through a substantial reading list on photography as an instrument of oppression, photography as a site of resistance, and photography as an avenue of restitution. Over a two-day period in May, 2022, they convened a symposium structured as a linked set of panels and workshops to explore those themes further with researchers beyond Yale. Each day included a panel discussion, an object-oriented workshop at either the Yale University Art Gallery or the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, and a keynote speaker.