Future Anterior approaches historic preservation from a position of critical inquiry, rigorous scholarship, and theoretical analysis. Guest edited by Iñaki Bergera, this is the second of two special issues exploring new ways to understand the relationship between photography and preservation. Addressing the subject from a theoretical perspective by unpacking some key themes and concepts defining this relationship—such as time, memory, and cultural identity—the essays included here map out this recent research area, seeking to enrich the discipline by theorizing photography’s ramifications within the history of preservation.

Contributors to this issue include Sarah Blankenbaker and Erin Besler, Jesús Vassallo, Mariana Mogilevich, Henrieta Moravcíková, Ivan Pilny, Peter Szalay, Colin Sterling, Sarah Rojon, Nicola Pezolet, and Dayanita Singh.