معرفی
Associate Professor Donna Brett is Chair of Art History at the University of Sydney, specializing in the history of photography and systems of power. She holds a BA (UniSA), MA, and PhD (Sydney). Her research focuses on surveillance aesthetics, disaster representation, and modernist photobooks. Recent projects include analyzing the Stasi surveillance archive and the role of photography in 20th-century disasters.
Education:
- BA (University of South Australia)
- MA (University of Sydney)
- PhD (University of Sydney)
Research Interests: Photography's role in surveillance, disaster documentation, modernist photobooks, and curatorial methodologies. Current projects include Surveillance Aesthetics: Stasi Photography & its Afterlife and On Disaster: Photography, Media, and Visual Culture.
Articles Trends: Recent work bridges historical analysis and contemporary relevance, examining Stasi surveillance, modernist aesthetics, and disaster imagery. Key themes include archival silences, propaganda, and the materiality of photographs.
Scientific Awards:
- 2026 Oliver Smithies Lectureship (Balliol College)
- 2023 Sloan Fellowship (Bodleian Libraries)
- 2020 Best Anthology Award (AAANZ AWAPA)
- 2017 Ernst & Rosemarie Keller Award
Advising & Grants: Supervised 5 PhD/MPhil students since 2017. Secured grants including the Bodleian Visiting Fellowship and SLAM Research Support. Taught innovative units like Berlin Fieldwork, emphasizing experiential learning in museums and galleries.
Labs/Teams: Leads the Photographic Cultures Research Group and serves on editorial boards for Visual Cultures and German Contexts (Bloomsbury) and the Australian & New Zealand Journal of Art.
