Michelle Henning

This interview was conducted by Andrew Fisher and Simon Constantine in the spring of 2026 and focuses on Henning’s recent book A Dirty History of Photography (University of Chicago Press, 2026), which rethinks the history of photography in terms of the development of the chemical industries and mineral extraction, early twentieth-century material from the Ilford company archives, the poetics of atmosphere and intertwined economic and colonial impact of coal tar extraction. Henning constructs a constellatory historical investigation into how these intertwined factors combine to inform our understanding of the ongoing environmental impact of chemical-based photographies. The interview focuses, in particular, on the methodological approach and the theoretical framing of these timely critical concerns.

This is the full-chapter version of an earlier conference paper of the same name. It is being published in a book on New Perspectives on Neurath's work which includes the entire 1940-45 Neurath-Carnap correspondence as an Appendix, and so the article assumes some familiarity with Neurath’s reputation and philosophical work. My chapter addresses Neurath's version of functionalism and how he applied certain ideas about design in 1940s Britain, during and after his internment on the Isle of Man between 1940-1941 and in talks, papers and correspondence from this period. It does not focus on the Isotype institute, which would usually be considered his principal intervention in design, but on his commentary on everyday objects and practices. In particular I focus on four objects (if they can be called that) – tennis courts, fireplaces, chairs and shoes – and through these elaborate some of the connections between Neurath’s ideas about the design of everyday life, and the significance of everyday practices, and his logical empiricism.

Otto Neurath’s version of functionalism is one that begins with people “as we find them,” a proposition first set out in his 1917 essay “The Converse Taylor System.” Any attempt to redesign the existing furnishings of everyday life must take into account “functions” that go beyond the obvious purpose of objects: functions that are to do with sociability, happiness, familiarity, the love of “coziness,” and that address the diversity and contradictoriness of people. This essay considers how Neurath applied and made use of these ideas about design in 1940s Britain, during and after his internment on the Isle of Man between 1940–1941 and in talks, papers and correspondence from this period. It does not focus on the Isotype Institute, which would usually be considered his principal intervention in design, but on his commentary on everyday objects and practices. In particular it centres on four items – tennis courts, fireplaces, chairs and shoes – and through these elaborates some of the connections between Neurath’s ideas about the design of everyday life, and the significance of everyday practices, and his logical empiricism.

This is the full-chapter version of an earlier conference paper of the same name. It is being published in a book on New Perspectives on Neurath's work which includes the entire 1940-45 Neurath-Carnap correspondence as an Appendix, and so the article assumes some familiarity with Neurath’s reputation and philosophical work. My chapter addresses Neurath's version of functionalism and how he applied certain ideas about design in 1940s Britain, during and after his internment on the Isle of Man between 1940-1941 and in talks, papers and correspondence from this period. It does not focus on the Isotype institute, which would usually be considered his principal intervention in design, but on his commentary on everyday objects and practices. In particular I focus on four objects (if they can be called that) – tennis courts, fireplaces, chairs and shoes – and through these elaborate some of the connections between Neurath’s ideas about the design of everyday life, and the significance of everyday practices, and his logical empiricism.