This module approaches photography as a set of problems and concepts, as a modality of thinking and a way of producing new models of visibility. It takes a focused look at critical and theoretical debates in contemporary photographic practices from the global historical perspective of the medium. This module will equally sources traditional references as well as festivals and exhibitions (catalogues) that are significant to the medium historical and theoretical development. The discussion on the technical and conceptual development of photography before and after the WWII will include photography practices in the colonies and its postcolonial reading: from revisiting 19th century calotype and carte de visite to colonial lens in the imperial project; from modernist dogma and new documentary to Pushpamala N and the postcolonial archive; from Robert Frank and Diane Arbus to Daido Moriyama and Seydou Keïta. The survey of the contemporary practice is a comparative analysis of the medium global development: from Nobuyashi Araki and Ragu Rhai to Robert Adam and Bern and Hilla Bechers, from Dusseldorf School of photography to the studio portrait tradition in South Asia. Lastly, the module will cross-reference the non-western display in Euro-America photography institutions with the burgeoning of international photography festivals in Asia such as Singapore International Photography Festival and Dhaka?s Chobi Mela and how they influence the contemporary debates in photographic practice.