Antiphotojournalism
01 April - 08 June 2011
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| © Walid Raad
We Decided To Let Them Say "We Are Convinced” Twice (detail), 2008
courtesy Anthony Reynolds Gallery, London |
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ANTIPHOTOJOURNALISM
1 April - 8 June 2011
Photojournalism is in the midst of a remarkable, and singularly
unexpected, renaissance. New practices, strategies, viewpoints,
techniques, and agents have radically transformed the institutions and
the fundamental concepts of the field. Whilst it has become fashionable
to lament the death of photojournalism, actual events suggest that
something quite different is taking place. The group exhibition
Antiphotojournalism charts these new developments in exciting ways.
Included is work by Broomberg & Chanarin, Mauro Andrizzi, Jonathan
Cavender, Robbie Wright, Shane McDonald, Hito Steyerl, Ariella Azoulay,
Paul Lowe, Goran Galic & Gian-Reto Gredig, Laura Kurgan, Renzo
Martens, Kadir van Lohuizen, Allan Sekula, Phil Collins, Walid Raad/The
Atlas Group, Paul Fusco, Gilles Peress and Susan Meiselas. Compilations
by Sohrab Mohebbi, Eyal Weizman, with Yazan Khalili and Tony Chakar.
New methods of reporting the news, new imaginations of what the news
might be, have challenged the hegemonic figure of the photojournalist at
its core and given birth to the most interesting ideas. This critical
approach is called, following Allan Sekula, 'antiphotojournalism'. It
has a multiplicity of forms, such as film, video, slides, web-based
presentations and many more.
Antiphotojournalism provides a profound and passionate fidelity to the
image, unleashed from the demands of the traditional approach of
photojournalism. It is freed to ask other questions, to make other
claims, to tell other stories. Sometimes the gesture is reflective.
Sometimes the desire is evidentiary not in the old sense of simply
offering the 'evidence' of images to an assumedly homogenous public
opinion, but in a much more precise way: photographs have become
evidence in war crimes tribunals. Sometimes the innovation is
technological, whether it involves working with the hi-tech resources of
advanced satellite imagery or the low-tech crowd-sourcing of
participatory protest imaging. Sometimes the practices are archival. And
sometimes the question is simply whether we even need images at all.
The exhibition juxtaposes reportages by established Magnum practitioners
with material from autonomous artists and even amateurs. The works can
be viewed in a myriad of ways, from slide shows to YouTube films, from
music videos to satellite imagery and archival material.
Antiphotojournalism is curated by Carles Guerra and Thomas Keenan. The
exhibition is produced by the City of Barcelona, Institut de Cultura: La
Virreina Centre de la Imatge.
www.foam.nl
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