Using photography in history of science and technology: : a methodological proposal

Hugo Pereira

doi:10.24310/fotocinema.28.2024.17609

Autores/as

Hugo Pereira NOVA School of Science and Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7706-2686 (no autenticado)

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24310/fotocinema.28.2024.17609

Palabras clave:

Metodología, Ontología, Historiografía, Fuentes

Resumen

La fotografía se ha utilizado para registrar diferentes rasgos de las sociedades humanas desde su invención en la primera mitad del siglo XIX. Después de años de ser utilizada como herramienta ilustrativa en la historia, la fotografía conquistó su lugar como fuente primaria desde mediados de los años 1980. En este artículo me sumo a este debate con un enfoque metodológico para utilizar la fotografía en la historia de la ciencia y la tecnología (incluidas la medicina y la ingeniería). Sostengo que la fotografía ofrece una visión exclusiva para comprender cómo se implementaron, utilizaron, representaron y presentaron la ciencia y la tecnología al público. Ofrezco tanto directrices prácticas como un marco teórico, basado en la semiótica barthesiana, que puede ser utilizado tanto por académicos más jóvenes como por más experimentados. Sostengo que esta propuesta tiene el potencial de ser utilizada como denominador común entre diversas colecciones fotográficas y, por lo tanto, de permitir comparaciones más amplias entre diferentes contextos históricos y geográficos. Además, promueve la visión crítica de la fotografía que no debe tomarse por su valor nominal, sino entenderse dentro de su contexto sociotécnico y tecnocientífico. Esta reflexión ciertamente tiene sus defectos y deficiencias y, naturalmente, está abierta a mejoras, a través de su aplicación práctica a las colecciones fotográficas.

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Biografía del autor/a

Hugo Pereira, NOVA School of Science and Technology

CIUHCT – Interuniversity Centre for the History of Science and Technology, Portugal

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