Photography, Curation, Affect

<jats:p> This article explores the implications of photographic affect for curatorial practice by examining the exhibition Through The Body: Lens-Based Work by Contemporary Chinese Women Artists (Art Museum at University of Toronto, 2014). The author focuses on the curatorial task of situating the work of three of the artists, Chen Zhe, Fan Xi and Chun Hua Catherine Dong that employs affect in related but potentially incompatible ways. Chen’s visceral series The Bearable documents her practices of cutting as an attempt to overcome shame and begin healing. Fan’s portraits of topless Chinese lesbians use affect to assert the human dignity of her subjects and make their presence visible in a culture that erases them. Dong’s photographic and video documentations of her mail-order bride performances use affect to disrupt and complicate the power relations her performances expose. By situating their works in the exhibition, the article investigates the issues raised by photographic affect for curatorial practice. </jats:p>