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The controversial film by the Dutch artist Renzo Martens, ‘Episode 3 – ‘Enjoy Poverty’ (2009, 90 min), will be screened at the Tate Modern, London, on 2nd June at 18.30. In this documentary-style film, Martens investigates the representation of Congolese poverty. Throughout the film he mocks the way the Western world exploits poverty in Africa. [...]
Filed under: Film | Tagged: Africa, Central Africa, DRC, poverty, representation, screening | 2 Comments »
It is rare to come across any detailed analysis of the use of images in social activism, let alone an organisation publishing its own internal research. So, this report by UNICEF – ‘Images of girls and girls’ education: Reviewing and Rethinking‘ makes interesting reading. Published in March 2009, it presents research conducted over six months [...]
Filed under: Multi-media, Photography | Tagged: children, representation, research, UN | Leave a Comment »
I was at the British Embassy in Kathmandu a couple of weeks back to attend a gathering on enforced disappearances. The event marked the 6th anniversary of the killing a 15-year-old girl, Maina Sunuwar, in 2004 by the Nepal Army. The main draw was the première of a short film entitled, ‘Awaiting Justice‘ (presented as [...]
Filed under: Article, Campaigning, Film | Tagged: Africa, Algeria, Americas, Argentina, armed conflict, Asia, Chile, disappearances, Middle East&North Africa, Nepal, NGO, participatory photography, Peru, photographers, representation, South America, South Asia | Leave a Comment »
From much the same direction as Paul Close’s ‘Is there one thing that could make your life better?‘ comes ‘What makes you happy?‘ by Simon Sticker at Flow Media. Based on the ‘50 People 1 Question‘ project ‘What makes you happy?’ consists of a series of short video clips asking the question to young adults [...]
Filed under: Video | Tagged: Africa, Central Africa, representation, Rwanda | 1 Comment »
I know, I know, its a bit of a headline title but as this article rounds of one year dedicated to looking at the use of photography, video and all that other visual stuff used in social activism I thought it appropriate to end with a grand claim. But to be honest with you I [...]
Filed under: Article, Campaigning | Tagged: famine, NGO, participatory photography, representation, research | 7 Comments »
OK, I admit to being a bit bored today so excuse my venom. However, this promo has got to rank in at least the top 5 worst videos for social activism I have seen this year, and I have seen a lot of tosh. You can watch the video here. Nuru claims to be ‘doing [...]
Filed under: Campaigning, Video | Tagged: development, representation, research | 1 Comment »
This image from the hilarious US spoof news site, The Onion, has come to my attention twice in 24 hrs. First, it crashed the Open-I webinar I was attending on Advocacy Photojournalism & Human Rights. Then I noticed it on the blog (Notes On) Politics, Theory and Photography.
Filed under: Photography | Tagged: representation | Leave a Comment »
It is a well known fact that innocent people are convicted of crimes they did not commit. This flaw in all criminal justice systems is one of the most compelling arguments for the abolition of the death penalty. Although there are examples of such miscarriages of justice around the world the USA tends to present [...]
Filed under: Photography | Tagged: conference, photographers, representation | Leave a Comment »
Some admirable short films make up the winners of the Ctrl+Alt+Shift film competition. Of particular note are ‘War School’ and ‘No Way Through’ (below) that use the technique of placing the violation in the audiences world. I think this may be just as more powerful in ‘constructed’ still images, and wonder why it is not used more? I like it as it tries to tackle the gap between the audience’s world and that of the ‘distant other’ we can so readily ignore, even though we may extend our pity.
Filed under: Film | Tagged: competition, human rights, NGO, representation, research | 2 Comments »
