Established in 2005, the Durham Centre for Advanced Photography Studies (DCAPS) brings together academics with research interests in the photographic image at the University of Durham. It aims to forge regional, national and international links with researchers, practitioners, curators and others with shared interests in photography. DCAPS runs a regular programme of seminars, workshops and a major biennial international conference, the latest of which took place at the end of September 2009. It also coordinates the activities of the MA in the Photographic Image, which launched in 2003, and is the hub for a cohort of postgraduate students.

Leverhulme Visiting Professorship - Ariella Azoulay

DCAPS is pleased to announce that Prof. Ariella Azoulay (Bar Ilan University, Israel) will be joining Durham University for an eight-month period as a Leverhulme Visiting Professor in January 2011. Author of The Civil Contract of Photography (MIT Press, 2008), Once Upon A Time: Photography Following Walter Benjamin (Bar Ilan University Press, 2006) and Death's Showcase: The Power of Image in Contemporary Democracy (MIT Press, 2001), Prof. Azoulay will be based in the Department of Geography and work closely with the members of DCAPS. Her research programme is entitled 'Photography, Colonialism and States of Emergency', and will include two public lectures, two workshops and two seminars.

DCAPS 3 - Humanising Photography

The latest DCAPS conference took place on 25-27 September 2009, and investigated the relationship between photography, humanism, human rights and humanitarianism. It featured contributions from a range of international scholars, human rights activists, and the photographers Luis Sinco, Marcelo Brodsky, and Bruno Boudjelal. Podcasts from the conference will be available on the DCAPS website shortly.