Biography
Jane Tormey lectures in Critical and Historical Studies in the School of Arts at Loughborough University, UK. Her research explores the exchange of ideas between art practice and other disciplines and the ways in which conceptual and aesthetic traditions can be disturbed by and through photographic/filmic practices.
"It is difficult to imagine a more comprehensive, exciting or informed discussion of photography and the city. Jane Tormey’s theoretical sweep locates itself in Marx and then moves through Lefebvre, Walter Benjamin, Jean Baudrillard and a host of other contemporary critical theorists. Through her work we see the photograph as a "provocation" rather than a presentation of reality, and we unravel its layers to understand the networks of relationships, systems and power that make up the city. Her far ranging discussion negotiates the history of ideas as skilfully as it takes us to a myriad of cities, using photography to penetrate the urban experience rather than simply to represent it. Happily the book is well illustrated and the images add subtlety and depth to her analysis. Tormey’s multi-layered account is a delight from beginning to end; a must-read for all who share an interest in cities and photography." — Douglas Harper, Professor of Sociology, Duquesne University, and President, International Visual Sociology Association
"Jane Tormey’s book brings into dialogue key critical thinkers on the city and photography, engaging as it does so with the work of a wide range of international photographers, and offering close analysis of an extensive range of images from the nineteenth century to the present. Her innovative exploration of how the urban world has been represented, understood and grasped - however fleetingly - in and through the photographic image is rich in insights for all of those interested in the endlessly productive encounter between the two." — Dr Edward Welch, Chair of School in the School of Modern Languages and Cultures, Durham University, UK
"What is refreshing about the book is its determination to avoid the more abstract discussions that can characterise some art-historical texts. Here, Tormey's openness to the work of geographers acts to leaven this tendency. The book is extensively illustrated from photographic projects that are discussed at length within the text. Although many of these sources will be new to geographers, they will help to ground and extend their engagement with the conceptual material. The boxed discussions of key concepts and photographers further open up the material to the student reader." — Tim Hall, University of Gloucestershire, UK
