In this lecture I will talk about the role of improvisation in photography. As with reference to other visual arts, scepticism may arise about the possibility of applying the notion of improvisation to photography in a plausible way. Indeed, even if the photo is really improvised, the viewer does not directly perceive the improvisation process - as happens in the case of performing arts such as music, theatre and dance - but only its result. How is it possible to aesthetically appreciate improvisation in photography?

Based on concrete examples, I will argue that improvisation is artistically (and possibly aesthetically) relevant to photography if the photo is seen (or intended) as the result of a shot which, being both performative and creative, is the enactment of a "grammar of contingency". My account of the artistic specificity of improvisation in photography discusses the aesthetic impact of improvised photo production on the final product and addresses the question of whether it is possible for viewers to perceive (aspects of) the improvised photographic act in the photographic image.

© Image by AndersSimonsen3, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons