PhD Oral Exam - Philippe Guillaume, Art History

When studying for a doctoral degree (PhD), candidates submit a thesis that provides a critical review of the current state of knowledge of the thesis subject as well as the student’s own contributions to the subject. The distinguishing criterion of doctoral graduate research is a significant and original contribution to knowledge.

Once accepted, the candidate presents the thesis orally. This oral exam is open to the public.

Abstract

This dissertation examines the link between photographs taken by photographers who walk to take pictures and walking artists who take pictures as a visual record of their art. The interconnection between photography and walking underwent a major reconfiguration in the 1960s when walking became an autonomous form of art while, at virtually the same moment, American, British, and European street photographers were walking to produce documentary photographs injected with a new subjective approach. My research program was initiated at Tate Archives where a messy snapshot taken in 1967 by Hamish Fulton drew my thinking into sharp focus. Here was the inception of walking as art in a street photograph. This snapshot is given close visual analysis as the central photographic document for this thesis. A conversation with Fulton concentrated on this picture, which had laid dormant for four decades. Close visual analysis of this photograph sets the direction of the thesis toward qualitative investigation, underpinned by historical findings and theoretical insight. This methodology is applied to select photos and art projects from the 1960s to the near present. Genres include street photography, conceptual art, performance art and land art. This thesis is structured around a dual perspective of photography/walking as well as walking/photography. It offers new insight into the interdependency of photography and walking and argues that this relationship underwent a major change and institutional challenge around 1967. My study has been enriched by my interaction with a network of walking artists and my own research-practice.