Whiteout: Photography in Antarctica; Panel Discussion

Presentation Type

Event

Start Date

8-3-2026 12:09 AM

Description

Moderator & Speakers: Host Geoffrey Batchen with Photographers Anne Noble, Joyce (Jo) Campbell, and photography historian Elizabeth Watkins

This panel spotlights the artistic vision and environmental engagement of renowned photographers Anne Noble and Joyce (Jo) Campbell, contextualized by the work of Elizabeth Watkins on the history and delicate ecosystem of Antarctica. This panel examining women, photography, and the icy continent, as it is understood through distinctly female perspectives, explores the ways female artists approach topics of climate change, the sublime, and human impact, reflecting on their processes of collaboration, innovation, and ethical representation in one of the world's most threatened environments. Geoffrey Batchen joins the panel as a moderator and interlocutor, inviting deeper reflection on photographic histories and futures without detracting from the centrality of the female photographic gaze. By focusing on the unique contributions and leadership of women in Antarctic photography, this discussion encourages audiences to reconsider how artistic practice can foster responsibility, resilience, and fresh ways of seeing amidst the shifting ice.

Anne Noble is one of New Zealand’s most distinguished photographers, celebrated for her evocative images exploring the human experience in Antarctica and beyond. Her expansive body of work delves into the intersections of science, imagination, and ecological awareness, often collaborating with scientists and communities. Noble’s projects, including her long-term Antarctic series, challenge viewers to contemplate care, beauty, and the unknown. She is a passionate advocate for environmental consciousness through art.

Joyce (Jo) Campbell is a multidisciplinary artist whose photography, film, and installation works investigate ecological transformation, microbial life, and deep time. Drawing on direct engagement with Antarctic and New Zealand landscapes, Campbell uses experimental analog techniques to highlight environmental vulnerability. Her practice foregrounds collaboration and ethical storytelling, urging audiences to reconsider our relationship with Earth’s threatened frontier.

Dr. Liz Watkins research focuses on film histories of colour and the archive, gesture, feminist theory, the aesthetics and ethics of the digitisation, editing and colourisation of black-and-white analogue photographs and films. She has held research fellowships at the Harry Ransom Research Center (University of Texas at Austin), the University of Oxford and worked as a Lecturer at Universities in the UK and New Zealand. As Caird Fellow at the National Maritime Museum (Greenwich) and supported by the British Academy her research focused on colour, photographic materiality and meaning in visual histories of polar exploration. Watkins’ publications include essays in Screen, Journal for Cultural Research, and photographies. She is co-editor of collections on Color and the Moving Image (2013), Gesture and Film (2017), Colourised Histories: Reading Analogue/Digital Photography and Film Archives Now (2025), and Polar Photography and Film: Exploring the Archive (forthcoming).

Geoffrey Batchen is an internationally respected photography historian and theorist, currently based in Oxford, England. His scholarship spans the evolution, materiality, and cultural significance of the photographic medium. An engaging moderator, Batchen brings his expertise in visual culture and critical inquiry, fostering nuanced dialogue about the artistic, scientific, and environmental stakes in photographing Antarctica.

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Mar 8th, 12:09 AM

Whiteout: Photography in Antarctica; Panel Discussion

Moderator & Speakers: Host Geoffrey Batchen with Photographers Anne Noble, Joyce (Jo) Campbell, and photography historian Elizabeth Watkins

This panel spotlights the artistic vision and environmental engagement of renowned photographers Anne Noble and Joyce (Jo) Campbell, contextualized by the work of Elizabeth Watkins on the history and delicate ecosystem of Antarctica. This panel examining women, photography, and the icy continent, as it is understood through distinctly female perspectives, explores the ways female artists approach topics of climate change, the sublime, and human impact, reflecting on their processes of collaboration, innovation, and ethical representation in one of the world's most threatened environments. Geoffrey Batchen joins the panel as a moderator and interlocutor, inviting deeper reflection on photographic histories and futures without detracting from the centrality of the female photographic gaze. By focusing on the unique contributions and leadership of women in Antarctic photography, this discussion encourages audiences to reconsider how artistic practice can foster responsibility, resilience, and fresh ways of seeing amidst the shifting ice.

Anne Noble is one of New Zealand’s most distinguished photographers, celebrated for her evocative images exploring the human experience in Antarctica and beyond. Her expansive body of work delves into the intersections of science, imagination, and ecological awareness, often collaborating with scientists and communities. Noble’s projects, including her long-term Antarctic series, challenge viewers to contemplate care, beauty, and the unknown. She is a passionate advocate for environmental consciousness through art.

Joyce (Jo) Campbell is a multidisciplinary artist whose photography, film, and installation works investigate ecological transformation, microbial life, and deep time. Drawing on direct engagement with Antarctic and New Zealand landscapes, Campbell uses experimental analog techniques to highlight environmental vulnerability. Her practice foregrounds collaboration and ethical storytelling, urging audiences to reconsider our relationship with Earth’s threatened frontier.

Dr. Liz Watkins research focuses on film histories of colour and the archive, gesture, feminist theory, the aesthetics and ethics of the digitisation, editing and colourisation of black-and-white analogue photographs and films. She has held research fellowships at the Harry Ransom Research Center (University of Texas at Austin), the University of Oxford and worked as a Lecturer at Universities in the UK and New Zealand. As Caird Fellow at the National Maritime Museum (Greenwich) and supported by the British Academy her research focused on colour, photographic materiality and meaning in visual histories of polar exploration. Watkins’ publications include essays in Screen, Journal for Cultural Research, and photographies. She is co-editor of collections on Color and the Moving Image (2013), Gesture and Film (2017), Colourised Histories: Reading Analogue/Digital Photography and Film Archives Now (2025), and Polar Photography and Film: Exploring the Archive (forthcoming).

Geoffrey Batchen is an internationally respected photography historian and theorist, currently based in Oxford, England. His scholarship spans the evolution, materiality, and cultural significance of the photographic medium. An engaging moderator, Batchen brings his expertise in visual culture and critical inquiry, fostering nuanced dialogue about the artistic, scientific, and environmental stakes in photographing Antarctica.