SAS Researchers

SAS student and professor gave a talk at the international conference in Saint Petersburg.

Polina Shishkina, a fourth-year student at SAS (CULT), became a speaker at the international section for young researchers at the “After (Post) Photography” conference held in St. Petersburg. In her presentation, Polina drew on a part of her bachelor thesis, which examines the dynamic mobilization of the viewer in the Soviet pavilion at the “Pressa” exhibition (Cologne, 1928).

The “After (Post) Photography” is an International conference on visual studies, history and theory of photography. This conference serves as a platform for interdisciplinary discussions on photography and aims to present new approaches, discoveries, and hypotheses in the field of photographic research. The theme of this year's conference was “Presence and Absence.” The organizers invited participants to present their research and explore questions related to the digital possibilities of remote presence, the role of photography in constructing myths and images of otherness, the fading material foundation of photography, and the vanishing memory associated with visual representation.

“During the presentation, special attention is given to the photo-montage frieze and spirals in one of the exhibition sections. El Lissitzky and Sergei Senkin’s photofrieze is often mentioned in recent art historical discussions of the Soviet Pavilion at Pressa, while the gyrating columns of the exhibition section were widely commented upon in the German press at the time of the exhibition. Often discussed in isolation, these remarkable exhibits are even more extraordinary when considered together, offering fresh perspectives on the viewer's experience of the pavilion. The ensemble of the frieze and gyrating spirals resembled Greco-Roman architecture, where the temple columns often appeared below architectural friezes. Spatially and visually, the exhibits communicated an idea of the development of the Soviet reality and future to the European viewers through the semantic transformation of the international cultural symbols.

Everything went well at the conference! After my presentation, there was a fruitful discussion that helped me outline further directions for research. Not everything could be included within the scope of my diploma thesis, so I want to continue exploring this topic. I would like to delve into interpretations in the future”, noted Polina.

Polina's supervisor, SAS professor Erika Wolf, a recognized expert in Soviet photography and Russian visual culture, also presented her research at the panel session “History & Politics.” The topic of her presentation was “Binarisms and Reversals in Galina San’ko’s Photographs of Stalingrad.” Erika discussed the photographs of Soviet photographer Galina San’ko, whose images of episodes from World War 2 are known worldwide. The section moderator, Daria Panaiotti, thanked Erika for the opportunity to see these photographs.

Participation in conferences is an important part of the SAS research program. On one hand, students go beyond the confines of the classroom and share the results of their undergraduate research with the academic community, taking their first confident steps as researchers. On the other hand, all SAS faculty members are scientists engaged in interdisciplinary research. Therefore, participating in conferences with experts from various disciplines provides an opportunity to gain interdisciplinary insights to enrich their own projects.

Recordings of the presentations are available via the link.