Dagmar Keultjes

Dagmar Keultjes is a researcher at the Photothek (Photographic Archive) of the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, which operates under the Max Planck Society. She has been a staff member of the Photothek since October 2015, following her work as a project assistant from March 2013 to September 2015.

Her educational background includes studies in art history, classical archaeology, and art education at universities in Giessen, Kassel, and Bologna. She earned her Master of Arts degree in 2005 from Justus Liebig University in Giessen with a thesis on the anatomy theater in the Palazzo dell'Archiginnasio in Bologna. She completed her doctoral dissertation in 2021 on the history of photographic retouching, supervised by Prof. Dr. Herta Wolf from the University of Cologne.

Dr. Keultjes specializes in the history of photography, history of science, identification and preventive conservation of photographic media, and color management in digital image processing. Her research bridges historical photographic practices with contemporary digital preservation techniques. Her work focuses particularly on the technical evolution of photographic processes and their implications for art historical documentation and conservation.

Her most significant publication to date is her 2021 dissertation 'Practices and Discursive Processes of Photographic Retouching from 1839 to 1900,' which examines the historical development and theoretical frameworks surrounding photographic retouching during photography's formative century.

• DAAD short-term scholarship (December 2004-January 2005) for master's thesis research in Bologna

Dr. Keultjes has been deeply involved with the Photothek since December 2005, initially as a research assistant and doctoral student until October 2011. Between November 2011 and November 2012, she worked as a cataloger for the 'Homeless Paintings of the Italian Renaissance' project at Villa I Tatti, Harvard University's Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in Florence. Her career demonstrates a consistent focus on photographic documentation and preservation within art historical contexts.

As part of the Photothek team at the Kunsthistorisches Institut, Dr. Keultjes contributes to one of the world's most important collections of documentary photographs of Italian art and architecture. The Photothek functions as both a research facility and laboratory, playing a significant role in international debates about the function of photo archives in 21st-century research and society.