Bridging photography and area studies, Trans Asia Photography contributes to the study of photography and its histories by rethinking transnational and transcultural approaches and methodologies. By focusing on photographic practices beyond Euro-American frameworks, the journal foregrounds different ways of seeing and knowing as a way to advance new understandings of photography. Trans Asia Photography was founded in 2010 by Sandra Matthews as Trans Asia Photography Review, an international refereed journal devoted to the discussion of historic and contemporary photography from Asia. Established when the study of photography from Asia was still in its early stages, it aimed to bring together the perspectives of curators, historians, photographers, anthropologists, art historians and others in an effort to investigate photography from Asia as fully as possible and to encourage quality, depth and breadth in the field’s development. From the beginning, it was conceived as a resource located in cyberspace where readers from anywhere can read about previously unknown histories of photography, engage with new ways of thinking about past and present photographic work, see photographs that otherwise would be unavailable to them, and learn about relevant books, archives and symposia. From Spring 2021, the journal was renamed Trans Asia Photography under the co-editorship of Deepali Dewan, Yi Gu, and Thy Phu and relaunched with a new website. Its editors and operations are based at the University of Toronto and can be contacted at [email protected].
