Shifting the Frame – Women’s Photographic Practices (1840-1960) International Conference aims to bring long-overdue visibility to women photographers in Portugal active between 1840 and 1960 by uncovering their identities, practices, and visual legacies. It invites contributions that reframe photographic history through the lens of women’s history and gender studies, with particular attention to figures and practices that have been overlooked or insufficiently studied. By revisiting archival materials and questioning established historiographies, the conference aims to foster a more inclusive and critical understanding of Photography’s past.

Grounded in feminist visual studies and decolonial approaches, the conference acknowledges that those historically marginalised have often faced obstacles in bearing witness to their contributions. It also draws on recent scholarship that intersects gender history, labour history, and visual culture, offering methodological tools to examine photography not only as artistic expression, but also as a form of cultural work shaped by class, gender, race, and power.

We invite proposals from researchers, curators, artists, archivists, and doctoral students that engage with women’s photographic practices from diverse perspectives and geographies. Contributions exploring archival case studies, transnational comparisons, methodological innovations, or critical reflections on historiographical revision will be particularly encouraged. We welcome submissions that focus on the period between 1840 and 1960 and that:

• Reframe dominant, male-centred photographic historiographies through feminist, decolonial, and transdisciplinary approaches;
• Explore women’s roles in photography across studios, industry, archives, and domestic spheres, using underexplored sources and archival materials;
• Analyse photographs as part of broader media, technological, and social networks, rather than solely as authorial works;
• Examine women’s participation in exhibitions, press, books or albums, and other modes of visual circulation;
• Investigate how archival structures and dominant narratives have shaped the visibility (or erasure) of women photographers, and propose gender-informed archival practices;
• Develop new methodologies—especially through digital humanities—for mapping networks, careers, and transnational connections among women photographers;
• Situate women’s photographic practices within broader sociopolitical, cultural, and economic contexts, and promote public access to photographic heritage.

To find out more and submit please go to the direct link.