Friday, 13 November 2015 at 12:00 pm – Friday, 13 November 2015 at 1:30 pm
Activist Photojournalism
Activist Photojournalism - Convened by Simon Faulkner (MMU)
Date: Friday 13 November 2015, 12:00pm – 13:30pm
Location: No 70 Oxford Street, Manchester, M1 5NH
Tickets: FREE – See Eventbrite for tickets
In the past, documentary photographers have responded to particular political situations by forming groups with the aim of reporting issues overlooked by the mainstream media. This was the case with the Afrapix organisation in South Africa during Apartheid. Such groups embraced the idea that photography was a powerful means of showing reality, but at the same time they also believed that photographers should adopt political positions. These practices are continued today by groups of photographers working together to report political struggles and social issues, utilising diverse means of public address. Such photographers publish their pictures in the mainstream media, but they will also use social media platforms, or organise street exhibitions to distribute their images.
Two contemporary photographic collectives of this kind are the Israel/Palestine-based group ActiveStills and the Istanbul-based group NARPhotos. ActiveStills was formed in 2005 and has photographed political struggles against the Israeli occupation and as well as a range of other political issues within Israel. NARPhotos was established in 2003 and has reported on a range of political and social issues in Turkey, including the protests in Taksim Square and Gezi Park in Istanbul in 2013. This panel brings together members of both collectives to discuss their work and the role of Activist Photojournalists in the contemporary world.
Simon Faulkner teaches Art History at Manchester School of Art. His current research addresses relationships between visual culture and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is also currently a co-investigator on ‘Picturing the Social’, an eighteen month long ESRC funded research project on social media images.