Anthology of Rural Life: Shifting the Scope of Regional Archives

This paper will discuss the work of the Anthology of Rural Life (ARL) in relation to proactive archival practice. ARL is a collaborative photographic and archival venture focused on the visual documentation of rural communities across Europe. Through engaging with individuals and social groups the photographers record and reflect elements of shifting European economic, social, and cultural climates within diverse rural contexts. The model that ARL has developed with the regional archive Kresen Kernow for collecting photographic work could be seen as a useful way to respond to an era of ‘massification’ in imagery. We will discuss some of the ambitions for this approach, particularly to develop an international context for archival practices in provincial and regional institutions. Some of the considerations for a proactive archival practice would include: approaches to the commissioning of photographic work (systematic production rather than ad hoc collecting/donation policies); a broadening awareness of photographic history and practice (including the material nature of the medium) and the dissemination of work (within immediate social and geographical arenas as well as seeking commonalities with other national or international regional institutions).