Abstract

Since the turn of the century, photographic studies has undergone a dramatic shift
in perspective. The modernist art historical narrative that emphasised the innovations
of individual photographer-artists has receded, while recent research has
participated in what some have referred to as photography’s ‘ethnographic turn’.1
In order to recognise and celebrate contemporary scholarship, we organised a
conference entitled ‘Rethinking Early Photography’ at the University of Lincoln,
UK in June 2015.2 The topic of networks emerged as the conference discussion
proceeded, eventually becoming the basis for this special issue. Thinking about
networks, in their various forms, is one important way in which photographic
studies has moved away from the privileging of avant-garde uniqueness, certainty,
and individual authorship that marked scholarship in the twentieth century.