Dr Laurie Taylor
Senior Lecturer - Photography (History and Theory)PhD, PGCert, MA, BFA, FHEAOverview
Laurie is an art historian specialising in modern, postmodern and contemporary art with a focus on photography and the role of materiality in visual culture.
In addition to lecturing at AUB, Laurie is also a peer reviewer for several academic journals and sits on the editorial board of The History of Photography journal. She is the author of The Materiality of Exhibition Photography in the Modernist Era: Form, Content, Consequence (Routledge, 2021), as well as numerous academic articles, and has frequently written for publications including, Frieze, Aperture and The Burlington Magazine.
Qualifications
Qualifications
- PhD History of Art/Photography (Birkbeck College, University of London)
- MA History of Art (Birkbeck College, University of London)
- MA Creative Writing (Goldsmiths College, University of London)
- BFA Fine Art (TCU)
Teaching Qualification
- Supervising Postgraduate Research (SEDA)
- Postgraduate Certificate in Creative Higher Education (PGCert)
Teaching
Laurie teaches history, theory and contextual studies across all three levels on BA (Hons) Photography, including the Level 4 History Lecture series, the Levels 5 and 6 Research Projects, and various seminars connecting practice to theory. She also teaches theory on the MA Photography course and supervises research students.
Prior to joining AUB in 2021, Laurie was an Associate Lecturer in the History of Art department at Birkbeck College, University of London, where, in addition to modules in photographic history and theory, she also taught diverse art historical subjects, including Conceptual and Postmodern art, 20th century sculpture and semiotics.
Courses
- BA (Hons) Photography
- MA Photography
Research
Research Interests and Projects
Laurie's research interests include photographic materiality, history of
photographic exhibition, and the intersections between photography and other
mediums – visual and performance based – in postmodern and contemporary art. Her current research includes new projects on large-format imagery as artistic, commercial and political form; and the role of the touchscreen in visual and material culture.
Research Supervision
Laurie is interested in supervising or co-supervising PhD students in any area of photographic history and theory, including the uses of photography in modern, postmodern and/or contemporary art, the role of materiality in arts and photographic practice, and issues in broader digital image culture, such as appropriation and artificial intelligence.
Current Research Supervision
- Jayne Jackson – Herstories: A practice-based, feminist critique of how the photograph can heuristically be deployed to increase women’s
agency and readdress zemiology in historical depictions of women.
- Jonathan Coleman-Zheng – A stereo-photographic survey of threatened pre-historic cultural landscapes of Southwest England combining an artistic approach with lasting research value through embedded geomorphic data.
- Kate Davies – Digital Veils: A Practice-Based Inquiry into the Evolution and Ethical Implications of Automated Face Replacement in Journalism and Photo-Documentary Practice.
Professional Engagement
Conferences, seminars, workshops and speaking engagements
- 2015 Association of Art Historians annual conference, University of East Anglia. Paper presented: 'Glossy & Matte: The Art of Surface'
- 2015 Image Matter: Art and Materiality, Manchester Metropolitan University. Invited speaker: 'Superficial Matters: Active & Passive Surfaces of Exhibited Art'
- 2018: Wellcome Centre and SOAS University, London. Invited speaker: John Thomson: Reframing Materials, Images and Archives
- 2019: The Photographer's Gallery, London. Invited speaker and participant: The Stuff of Photography summer workshop and seminar series
- 2023: Victoria & Albert Museum and The National Archives, London. Invited speaker and participant: The Materials of Art and Photography: An Interdisciplinary Symposium.
Awards and Prizes
Notable awards/prizes
Grants
2019 Art and Humanities Research Council grant for 'The Stuff of Photography' research network and conference (The Photographer's Gallery, London)
2020 Association for Art History publishing grant for The Materiality of Exhibition Photography in the Modernist Era: Form, Content, Consequence (Routledge, 2021)
Memberships
Advance HE Membership
- Fellow (FHEA)
Professional Memberships
- Association of Art History (AAH)