Nina Lager Vestberg
+4773550601
Bygg 8, 8341, Dragvoll
About
Professor of visual culture in the Department of Art and Media Studies, leader of the Media, Data, Museums research group. Nina was educated in the UK, where she studied photography and multimedia at BA level, before obtaining an MA and a PhD in the history of art at Birkbeck, University of London.
Her research explores the labour, systems, technologies, and infrastructures that underpin visual culture from the early 1800s to the present. A recurring topic is how photographic technologies and practices persist in the digitized materials of online archives. The book Picture Research: The Work of Intermediation from Pre-Photography to Post-Digitization, on the role of the picture industry in the long history of digitization from the 1830s to the 2010s, was published by The MIT Press in 2023.
Course topics on the BA programme in media studies and the MA programme in film and media studies include media history and media theory, research design and theoretical approaches, as well as visual culture.
Research
Project
I am currently collaborating with Anna Näslund at Stockhom University on a project funded by the Swedish Research Council (VR) entitled Selling Pictures: Pictorial Economy and Commoditization, 1820–2020. This project traces the genealogy of contemporary AI-generated image hype over 200 years of promoting technologies for the production, reproduction, and circulation of pictures on a mass scale. It aims to understand the historical role of pictures not merely as commodities but as agents of commerce. The project focuses on emerging picture techniques in the 1820s, 1920s, and 2020s, examining iconographic and discursive patterns in pictures of mass reproduction (metapictures) and comparing vernacular picture theories—expressed in advertising copy and trade journalism—with canonical picture theories. Rooted in historical material practices, the project seeks to clarify and expand our understanding of how and why pictures play a central role in the work of selling in modern and contemporary societies.
Supervision
I am interested in supervising MA and PhD projects with a materialist and critical perspective on labour, systems, and technologies in the modern pictorial economy. I do not supervise artistic or practice-based research projects.
Selling Pictures: Pictorial Economy and Commoditization, 1820–2020
The project traces the genealogy of contemporary AI-generated image hype over 200 years of promoting technologies for the production, reproduction, and circulation of pictures on a mass scale.
Publications
2025
-
Vestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager.
(2025)
The Place of Photography and the Phases of Digitization.
Academic chapter
-
Vestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager.
(2025)
Reproducing a Nation: The Photomechanical Construction of Norway 1884–1905.
Photography and Culture
Academic article
2024
-
Eliassen, Knut Ove;
Vestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager;
Valtýsson, Bjarki.
(2024)
Plattformisering - forord.
K&K: kultur og klasse
Academic literature review
-
Vestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager.
(2024)
Source, Surrogate, Store, and Search: Significant Sites in Post-Digitized Art History.
Academic chapter
2023
-
Vestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager.
(2023)
Picture Research: The Work of Intermediation from Pre-Photography to Post-Digitization.
MIT Press
Academic monograph
2022
-
Vestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager.
(2022)
Seeing, Saving, and Remembering Barnardo’s Children: Technologies of Access and Preservation in Historical Research.
Scientia Canadensis
Academic article
2021
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2021)
Digitalt Museum – en plattform for datamangfold.
Academic chapter
2019
-
Ogundipe, Anne;
Hoel, Aud Sissel;
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2019)
On the Matter of Participation: Examining a Nexus of Agency, Affordance, Atmosphere and Affect in Onsite and Online Art Museum Environments.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Doctoral thesis
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager;
Jørgensen, Ulla Angkjær.
(2019)
Lokale kunstmuseer i Norge: et historisk perspektiv.
Norsk museumstidsskrift
Editorial
2018
-
Gran, Anne-Britt;
Vestberg, Nina Lager;
Booth, Peter;
Ogundipe, Anne.
(2018)
A digital museum's contribution to diversity - a user study.
Museum Management and Curatorship
Academic article
2016
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2016)
"There Is No Cloud": Toward a Materialist Ecology of Post-Photography.
Captures
Academic article
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2016)
The Ecology of the Photographic Image: Archives, Power and Materiality.
Academic chapter
2015
-
Maxwell, Richard;
Raundalen, Jon;
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2015)
Media and the ecological crisis.
Routledge
Anthology
2013
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2013)
A Photographic Archive of Physics, or a Physical Archive of Photography? Niels Bohr and the Production of Scientific Space(s).
Academic chapter
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2013)
Ordering, Searching, Finding.
Journal of Visual Culture
Academic article
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager;
Dahlgren, Anna;
Petersson, Dag.
(2013)
Representational Machines: Photography and the Production of Space.
Aarhus Universitetsforlag
Anthology
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2013)
The photographic image in digital archives.
Academic chapter
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2013)
"Ikke sint, bare veldig skuffet": Om barn, miljø og medieteknologi.
Norsk medietidsskrift (NMT)
Academic article
2011
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2011)
Robert Doisneau and the Making of a Universal Cliché.
History of Photography
Academic article
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2011)
Index/Finger: Medium and Materiality in the Archives.
Academic chapter
2009
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2009)
Flytande fotografier - originalitet och upphovsrätt i det digitala arkivet.
Academic chapter
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2009)
From the filing cabinet to the internet : digitising photographic libraries.
Academic chapter
2008
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2008)
Archival value: on photography, materiality and indexicality.
Photographies
Academic article
2005
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2005)
Photography as cultural memory: imag(in)ing France in the 1950s.
Journal of Romance Studies
Academic article
Journal publications
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2011)
Robert Doisneau and the Making of a Universal Cliché.
History of Photography
Academic article
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2016)
"There Is No Cloud": Toward a Materialist Ecology of Post-Photography.
Captures
Academic article
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2008)
Archival value: on photography, materiality and indexicality.
Photographies
Academic article
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2005)
Photography as cultural memory: imag(in)ing France in the 1950s.
Journal of Romance Studies
Academic article
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2013)
Ordering, Searching, Finding.
Journal of Visual Culture
Academic article
-
Eliassen, Knut Ove;
Vestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager;
Valtýsson, Bjarki.
(2024)
Plattformisering - forord.
K&K: kultur og klasse
Academic literature review
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2013)
"Ikke sint, bare veldig skuffet": Om barn, miljø og medieteknologi.
Norsk medietidsskrift (NMT)
Academic article
-
Vestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager.
(2022)
Seeing, Saving, and Remembering Barnardo’s Children: Technologies of Access and Preservation in Historical Research.
Scientia Canadensis
Academic article
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager;
Jørgensen, Ulla Angkjær.
(2019)
Lokale kunstmuseer i Norge: et historisk perspektiv.
Norsk museumstidsskrift
Editorial
-
Gran, Anne-Britt;
Vestberg, Nina Lager;
Booth, Peter;
Ogundipe, Anne.
(2018)
A digital museum's contribution to diversity - a user study.
Museum Management and Curatorship
Academic article
-
Vestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager.
(2025)
Reproducing a Nation: The Photomechanical Construction of Norway 1884–1905.
Photography and Culture
Academic article
Books
-
Maxwell, Richard;
Raundalen, Jon;
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2015)
Media and the ecological crisis.
Routledge
Anthology
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager;
Dahlgren, Anna;
Petersson, Dag.
(2013)
Representational Machines: Photography and the Production of Space.
Aarhus Universitetsforlag
Anthology
-
Vestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager.
(2023)
Picture Research: The Work of Intermediation from Pre-Photography to Post-Digitization.
MIT Press
Academic monograph
Part of book/report
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2013)
A Photographic Archive of Physics, or a Physical Archive of Photography? Niels Bohr and the Production of Scientific Space(s).
Academic chapter
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2013)
The photographic image in digital archives.
Academic chapter
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2021)
Digitalt Museum – en plattform for datamangfold.
Academic chapter
-
Vestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager.
(2024)
Source, Surrogate, Store, and Search: Significant Sites in Post-Digitized Art History.
Academic chapter
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2009)
Flytande fotografier - originalitet och upphovsrätt i det digitala arkivet.
Academic chapter
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2011)
Index/Finger: Medium and Materiality in the Archives.
Academic chapter
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2016)
The Ecology of the Photographic Image: Archives, Power and Materiality.
Academic chapter
-
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2009)
From the filing cabinet to the internet : digitising photographic libraries.
Academic chapter
-
Vestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager.
(2025)
The Place of Photography and the Phases of Digitization.
Academic chapter
Student thesis or dissertation
-
Ogundipe, Anne;
Hoel, Aud Sissel;
Vestberg, Nina Lager.
(2019)
On the Matter of Participation: Examining a Nexus of Agency, Affordance, Atmosphere and Affect in Onsite and Online Art Museum Environments.
Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet
Doctoral thesis
Teaching
Courses
Outreach
2025
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager. (2025) Textbook Structure: How We Are Mapping Visual Studies for the Future. What Lies Ahead for Art History and Visual Studies
2023
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager. (2023) A Nation in Its Own Images: Art Reproduction in Early-Twentieth-Century Norway. Art within Reach: Photomechanical Reproductions of Works of Art from Print to Digital
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager. (2023) The platformisation of pictures. Arts, Culture, and Algorithms: Forms, Formats, and Genres in the Age of Platformisation
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LectureMagin, Melanie Andrea; Vestberg, Nina Elisabeth Lager. (2023) Rundebord: Hva betyr arbeidslivsrelevans i disiplinfagene i humaniora og samfunnsvitenskap?. Læringsfestivalen 2023
2022
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2022) Innebygde bilder: klisjéens materielle mediehistorie. Norsk medieforskerkonferanse 2022
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2022) Significant sites in post-digitized art history: Source, surrogate, store, and search. NORDIK 2022
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LectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2022) Hva er digital produksjon?. Boklansering av Estetiske praksiser i den digitale produksjonens tidsalder
2020
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LectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2020) The Labour of Digitization. Renewable heritage, footprints of the future
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2020) Digitalt Museum: Actual, Ideal, and Critical Visitors Online. Museumsseminar, Digitization and Diversity
2017
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2017) Images at Work: Digitisation and the Archival Cultures of Photography. History and Theory of Photography Research Seminar
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2017) Photography as a technology of history: the medium and its materialities in the digital museum. Thinking the Image Research Group
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2017) I det digitale museet. Fotografi mellom katalog og artefakt. Mangfoldig museumsforskning
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2017) Analogue ancestors and digital descendants: on genealogy and the archival cultures of photography. Cultures of Photography
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2017) The Place of Photography and the Phases of Digitisation. Photo Archives VI: The Place of Photography
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LectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2017) Kan vi redde verden med mobilen? Miljøperspektiver på elektronisk forbruk. Åpent foredrag
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2017) Photography, Archives, and the Phases of Digitisation. About Time: Temporality and Historiography
2016
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2016) Media Ecology Beyond the Metaphor: New, Better, and More Materialist. ENCODE Guest Lecture
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LectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2016) Melanie Gilligans "The Common Sense". Seminar om identitet, teknologi og etikk (Forskningsdagene)
2015
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Interview
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Interview
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2015) The Ecology of the Photographic Image: Archives, Power, and Materiality. Archives-Power-Society
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager; Raundalen, Jon. (2015) Flatscreening Football: Ecological Perspectives on Electronic Spectatorship. European College of Sports Science 20th Congress
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2015) The Ecology of Photography: Archive, Infrastructure, Environment. À partir d'aujourd'hui... Reconsidering Post-Photography
2014
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LectureRaundalen, Jon; Vestberg, Nina Lager. (2014) Digitale dilemma: Hvordan påvirker mediene miljøet?. Foredrag i serien Digitale dilemma
2013
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2013) Residual archives. Nomadikon Lecture Series 4-7: Questions of Archaelogy, Archive and Method in Visual Culture Studies
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LectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2013) Niels Bohr i Trondheim. Sider fra et fotografisk album. Bohrseminaret 2013
2012
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Conference lectureRaundalen, Jon; Vestberg, Nina Lager. (2012) Why Ecology, Environment, Culture?. EECN Public Symposium
2011
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager; Vågnes, Øyvind. (2011) The Visual Culture in Europe Questionnaire. Visualizing Europe
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager; Raundalen, Jon. (2011) Towards a New Media Ecology. Media Acts 2011: The 10th International NorSIS Conference
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Feature article
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2011) Places, Pleasures, Possessions: the Material World of Archives. The Archive as Project
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2011) Medium, Materiality and the Miscellaneous: Some Thoughts on the Ordering of Photographic Archives. History, Memory, Myth: Re-presenting the Past
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Conference lecture
2010
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2010) Processing Waste: Disposing of Photography in Contemporary Art. Association of Art Historians Annual Conference
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Conference lecture
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Conference lecture
2008
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2008) Image rights (and wrongs): celebrity culture and the circulation of star photographs. Stars and Stardom: Liv Ullmann Symposium 2008
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Interview
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2008) Fotografier i flyt: Originalitet og opphavsrett i det digitale arkivet. Fotografi i arkiv: Ett seminarium om digitaliseringens effekter
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2008) Lee Miller at the V&A: Photography and technostalgia in the museum. LOCATION: the Museum, the Academy and the Studio
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Conference lectureVestberg, Nina Lager. (2008) Relocating authenticity: photographs and copyright in the post-print era. MeCCSA Annual Conference