This symposium brings together leading researchers who are working on 19th and early 20th century collections of Asia Pacific photographs. Alongside a broader consideration of the significance of the history of photography in the region, explorations of visual and built traces of identity formations, globalised trading and agricultural industrialisation, and the envisioning of modernity and nationalism during the late colonial era will be highlighted. The projects featured in the symposium demonstrate different modes of archival research and interpretation methods and a spectrum of geographical connections showcasing different pathways into the photographic collections. As a cross disciplinary platform of research exchange, the symposium aims to generate an overview of new approaches to research into the 19th and early 20th century history of the Asia Pacific region. These are developing through working with the era’s arguably most captivating and rich visual traces.

The symposium is led by Dr. Amanda Achmadi, Prof. Paul Walker, Dr. Karen Burns, and Dr. Bronwyn Stocks, and is co-organised by the ACAHUCH (Australian Collaboratory for Architectural History, Urban and Cultural Heritage) of the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning at The University of Melbourne.