Associate Members

Katherine Kaplan

© Tal Adler

CARMAH members’ portraits were captured in March 2017, on the ‘New55 PN’ – a new handmade instant film for large format, 4”x5” cameras. This film was launched through crowdfunding in 2014 as a reinvention of the discontinued, legendary ‘Type 55’ by Polaroid. Since the sixties, Polaroid’s unique ‘Type 55’ starred in many artists’ and professional photographers’ projects. ‘Type 55’ provided both an instant print and a superb negative from which more (and larger) prints could be made. Like so many photographic material in the last 10-15 years, ‘Type 55’ was discontinued in 2009. Tal Adler decided to use the ‘New55 PN’ not only for its beautiful quality but also to reflect, and participate in, the revival of (photographic) heritage.

As CARMAH’s first Geschäftsführerin and research manager (Dec 2015 – Jan 2019), my role was to support director Sharon Macdonald in the establishment and strategic development of the centre and its research projects. I also assisted our CARMAH research groups in all organizational matters related to their employment and scientific work, managed funding and planning, provided guidance for national and international research funding applications, developed scientific events and fostered CARMAH’s public relations.

Before joining CARMAH I worked in universitary project management and young researcher development, previously at the Universität Hamburg and the Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Drawing on these experiences, I strove to channel this into providing reliable support structures to our staff, making our activities visible to our stakeholders and the interested public, building strong relationships with academic and museum partners, and ultimately developing CARMAH into an inspiring research institution that shapes how we view the role of museums in the 21st century and, more specifically, in Berlin.

Having been able to make a long-lasting contribution to such a unique centre, and to work with such talented individuals, has been an absolute pleasure and privilege – I am proud to be a CARMAH Emeritus!