“The photographic archive and the construction of memory: Mompox case study”
Wednesday 4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
The professional photography program at the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University proposes several fields of deepening, among them that of Photographic file which includes not only the subject of conservation but also the management of photographic material. In this line, theoretical and methodological tools are provided that allow proposing, developing and evaluating projects for the management of photographic collections. We are interested in reviewing the notions and establishing a conceptual framework in this field, but also wondering about the social and historical meaning of photographic archives, addressing the ARCHIVE-MEMORY-HISTORY triad. One of the results that have been developed in this line are the degree projects and one of them in particular is the one that will be presented as a reference for the processes of memory construction and configuration of photographic heritage in Colombia.
In 2019, Paolo García Nigrinis worked with seven traditional families from Mompox, created a photographic archive from the review of the albums, and captured stories and testimonies from their review. that's how it's born “Mompox: Family album and construction of photographic memory around the Magdalena River, a research-creation project is based on the analysis of family albums from a community that does not have a photographic collection, since the only two that have existed have disappeared in the last ten years. The collected material is the starting point to understand the transformation of Mompox and the relationship of an amphibian community with the river in different categories. This project comprises an affective bond and a commitment to give back to a community that deserves to rebuild its photographic heritage.