Thinking Onto the Box: The Photographer’s Archive as Instrument

Studies of photographic archives have tended to follow two distinct models: analyses of institutional archives as systems of knowledge and power, or close readings of objects informed by theories of material culture. Art historical research, in contrast, also seeks to determine intentional meanings behind images or artefacts. The archive of a photographer can thus be approached along three different angles: as a system for filing images and their meanings; as a collection of material objects; finally, as traces of use that correspond to specific intentional acts by the artist directed towards the production of artworks. In an art historical context, the archive can be read as a means towards an end. This paper presents a case study of Canadian photographer John Max (1936-2011) and his use of the archive to produce the landmark sequence Open Passport (exhibited 1972; published 1973). Using both documentary and material evidence shows how John Max’s photographic artworks are specified through a process of materially realized editorial decisions more than by the moment of exposure. These decisions in turn are mediated by material features of the archive, such as traces of previous choices on contact sheets. Finally, this mediating role of the archive is also socialized, integrating both collaborators and existing ideas, pointing at the necessity of a networked narrative in monographic studies of photographers.