A public lecture by Martha Langford presented as part of the BC B inning Memorial Lecture Series
Thu
rsday\, November 13\, 2025
5:00–6:30
p.m. with reception to follow
Coach House\, Green College\, and livestreamed
6201
Cecil Green Park Road\, University of British Columbia
greencollege.ubc.
ca
*This event is open to the p ublic\, seating is limited.
The event recording can be viewed at the Green College UBC Youtube Channel or by contac ting the AHVA Visual Resources Centre for access: ahva.vrc@ubc.ca.
What did C
anadians know about photography\, and when did they know it?
Reading the territory
through that lens changes the terms of the investigation. The technology q
uestion—how—becomes a lot less interesting than detective fiction’s
why—the
motive and opportunity that produced a photograph. Who wanted it? Even the
most speculative endeavour has an imagined end-user. What problems might p
hotography solve? The why question widens the field of participation\, lead
ing us to rethink subjecthood in photographic themes we take for granted: p
eople\, places\, events\, and objects. The why question has staying power b
ecause it has been asked and re-asked every time the photograph has moved h
ouse. Why keep it?—a question all too frequently answered by carrying the m
ute excess to the curb.
Dr. Martha Langford FRSC is a distinguished professor emeriti of Concordia University in Mo ntreal. She is the former research chair and director of the Gail and Steph en A. Jarislowsky Institute for Studies in Canadian Art. In prior lives\, s he was the founding director of the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photogr aphy\, an affiliate of the National Gallery of Canada\, and before that\, e xecutive producer of the Still Photography Division of the National Film Bo ard of Canada.
She has published numerous monographs\, edited collections\, catalogues\, book chapters\, and articles on photography history and theor y\, and organized photographic exhibitions for museums and festivals in Can ada\, the UK\, and Europe. The first of three volumes\, A History of Photography in Canada: Anticipation to Parti cipation\, 1839–1918\, has just appea red from McGill-Queen’s University Press. In process are Volume 2: A Medium Unleashed\, 1919–1969 and Volume 3: M omentous Indecision\, 1970–2010.
Dr. Langford is in residence at Green College for a week in November 2025.
This program is presented with the support of the BC Binning Fund through the De partment of Art History\, Visual Art and Theory at the University of Britis h Columbia\, co-organized with Green College\, University of Victoria\, and Concor dia University's Speaking of Photography series\, with thanks to Robert Gra ham.
We acknowledge that the UBC Vancouver campus is situated on the traditi onal\, ancestral\, and unceded territory of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam).
Ima ge: Ernest Brown\, William Hansom Boor ne\, Ernest G. May\, and Charles W. Mathers\, Mission\, BC\, 1892. Photographic negative. Provincial Archives of Alberta\, PR0043.B993.
[buttons][button link_text="First publ ic lecture at University of Victoria" link_url="https://events.uvic.ca/even t/101867-10-surprising-things-about-the-history-of"][/buttons]
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