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Speaker: Rachel M Campbell

Date\Time: Thursday 7 May 2026, 12:30-13:30

Location: Building 1 Level A Room 1A21, University of Canberra (NB Room 1a21 is accessed from the foyer joining Building 1 and ); 

or Zoom: 

Abstract

Although this seminar takes Kim Kardashian's now-iconic 2014 Paper Magazine cover as its entry point, the argument it makes reaches back two centuries. When Kardashian "broke the internet" with a single image, she was participating in a mechanism of celebrity image-making with a much longer history than we might expect.

Long before the internet, the rapid expansion of print technologies in the nineteenth century unleashed an unprecedented proliferation of celebrity images into everyday life, appearing on sheet music, lithographs, ceramics, and illustrated newspapers. Suddenly, you didn't need to hear Jenny Lind sing or see Nellie Melba perform to feel intimately acquainted with them. Their faces, reproduced and commodified, did that work instead.

Drawing on visual culture and historical celebrity studies, this seminar argues that the relationship between fame and image is not a product of the digital age: the technology has changed, but the mechanics of celebrity have not.

All are welcome!

Bio

Dr Rachel M Campbell is a Senior Lecturer in Arts at the University of Canberra. Her research sits at the intersection of Historical Celebrity Studies and Visual Culture, with a focus on the visual representation of musicians and composers in the long nineteenth century. Her doctoral work developed a multidisciplinary methodology to examine how the proliferation of print technologies transformed musical celebrity, exploring figures including Dame Nellie Melba and Jenny Lind. Dr Campbell argues that the relationship between celebrity image and fame is far from a modern phenomenon. Her teaching practice is grounded in a relational pedagogy of kindness, equity considerations, and UDL.

The Culture and Creativity Seminar Series is hosted by the Centre for Cultural and Creative Research (CCCR), Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra. To discover upcoming seminars, please follow us on Facebook @uccccr, or Instagram and Twitter @uc_cccr. Alternatively, join our mailing list by emailing cccr@canberra.edu.au.

Any questions and accessibility requests please contact: cccr@canberra.edu.au.