Academic & Teaching Staff
Dr Guo Qiuzi
Assistant Professor
History of photography, Digital art history, Digital cultural heritage
(852) 2948 8382
Dr Guo Qiuzi
Assistant Professor
Dr. Qiuzi Guo is an art historian and digital humanist specializing in photography, digital approaches to images, and how media transformations shape our understanding of art history. Her academic interests encompass the history of photography, digital art history, and digital cultural heritage. By blending traditional art historical inquiry with diverse digital methodologies, she seeks to explore new ways of engaging with visual culture and its historical contexts.
Dr. Guo’s research began with the study of Chinese amateur photography in the early 20th century, focusing on how photographers in cities such as Shanghai, Nanjing, and Guangzhou creatively adapted modernist trends. Her work involves building searchable databases and online platforms to enhance access to and analysis of photographic and archival materials. Currently, her research incorporates computer vision to analyze photographic archives, providing fresh insights into the materiality and narratives of historical media.
In addition, Dr. Guo is working on a project on preserving Hong Kong’s cultural heritage, specifically documenting the old shops of Kowloon City District that are slated for demolition. By creating immersive 3D models and VR experiences, the project allows these historical spaces to remain accessible and appreciated by future generations.
Dr. Guo’s teaching reflects her research interests in digital art history and digital cultural heritage. She inspires students to engage with both theoretical concepts and practical applications, encouraging them to create projects using digital tools like AI-powered applications and data visualization to explore topics in art history and cultural preservation.
Dr. Guo holds a Ph.D. in Chinese art history from the University of Heidelberg. Before joining the Department of Cultural and Creative Arts, she was a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute Berlin in the 4A Laboratory: Art Histories, Archaeologies, Anthropologies, Aesthetics. Since relocating to Hong Kong in 2022, she has been a lecturer at HKUST, where she has taught courses on art and digital culture.
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PhD (Institute for East Asian Art History, Heidelberg University)
MSc (KU Leuven)
MA (Nanjing University)
BA (Shaanxi Normal University)
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Areas of Teaching
History of Photography
Contextual Studies of Creative Art
Digital Art History
Digital Cultural Heritage
AI and Art
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Research Interests
History of Photography
Computer Vision in Art Analysis
Art History and Machine Learning
Digital Cultural Heritage
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Selected Outputs
- Guo, Q. (2024). Prompting Change: ChatGPT’s Impact on Digital Humanities Pedagogy - A Case Study in Art History. International Journal of Humanities and Arts Computing.
- Guo, Q. (2023). When Kodak Came to China: Amateur Photography, Snapshot, and Fleeing Visuality [in Chinese]. Meishu Daguan (美术大观), April, 126–129.
- Guo, Q. (2022). From Porcelain to Photography: The Transformation of Femininity in the Representation of Chinese Women. In Women Cross Media: East Asian Photography, Prints, and Porcelain from the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden (pp. 288–301). Heidelberg: arthistoricum.net. https://doi.org/10.11588/arthistoricum.995.c13792
- Guo, Q. (2018). The Odyssey of an Amateur Chinese Photographer: Nostalgia, War, and Exile in the Work of Jin Shisheng. Trans-Asia Photography Review, 8(2). http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.7977573.0008.204
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Prizes and Awards
- Heinz-Götze-Scholarship for Chinese Art History, 2015, 2017
- Connecting Heidelberg University with China’s Leading Museums: Curatorial and Object Study Training Program Research Fellowship, 2016-17
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External Appointments
- Member, The Hong Kong Association for Digital Humanities (HKADH)
- Researcher, 廣州時代美術館 (Guangzhou Times Museum)
- Advisor (since 2022), Division of Emerging Interdisciplinary Areas, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
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Major External Research Grants
Co-Investigator: Unveiling the Coromandel Screen: Regional Diversity, Visual Mobility, and Social Lives in China's Coastal Regions, 1650-1750 (GRF)
