This weekly post has everything you need for completing this week’s self-paced content and readings, plus an outline at the end for what’s covered during class meetings. This week is about photographing protests and demonstrations, which happen in many different places for many different reasons. But nearly all protests allow us to see conflict, which makes protest photos powerful.
Photographing Protests and Unrest
Start this week by watching this narrated video diary of Getty Images photographer John Moore as he travels between three countries on a six-week trip in 2011. This was during the “Arab Spring” uprisings that built on previous movements and were known at the time for spreading on social media networks beyond the control of governments.
Next, watch this video from a photojournalist covering a protest in Brazil. This style of first-person video combined with photo highlights was popular when GoPro cameras first became widely available. This protest near Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana football stadium was part of a series of protests against hosting costly soccer events, including the 2014 World Cup, while many people in the country lacked basic public services.
Finally, watch this short video with photographer Cengiz Yar about actionable tips for covering protests as a photojournalist.
Get more tips about covering protests from the Student Press Law Center guide on this week’s reading list, as well as this list from the Lenfest Institute.
Review & Reflection
- How do the risks of photographing protests and demonstrations both similar and different from photographing war?
- What are items you need to cover a protest safely?
- What is an example of the decisive moment during an all-day protest?
Ethics and Representation
Do photographers put protesters in danger by photographing them? Is there an ethical obligation to not photograph someone if they don’t want to be photographed? These questions have been around for a long time, but they became important during coverage of Black Lives Matter protests in the United States this year.
Two readings from this week’s list help summarize and explain different perspectives (the first one is required; the other is strongly recommended):
- Photographers are being called on to stop showing protesters’ faces. Should they?
- In Photographing Social Justice Protests, Respect Means ‘Looking Again’
Review & Reflection
- What are arguments for not showing protesters’ faces? What are arguments for showing faces even if individual people do not give consent?
- Should photojournalists treat all protesters the same way, regardless of their views and who they are? Are all protest the same when it comes to photojournalism ethics?
Another reading this week is about the problems with “iconic” images that represent a one-dimensional and simplistic version of events, and often rely on conflict or stereotypes to do so.
Watch this Vox video critique of media images from protests in the U.S. this year. Featuring journalism professor Jason Johnson and Vox editor Kainaz Amaria, it is from a perspective supporting Black Lives Matter protests and criticizing visual news coverage — especially on TV — that prioritizes conflict instead of context.
Review & Reflection
- A peaceful protest typically gets less news coverage than demonstrations that involve violence or force. Is this a problem, or justifiable?
- Photographers don’t have control over how their images are used later on or what other people see in them. Are individual photographers responsible for thinking about possible stereotypes and symbolic meanings in their photos?
- Photos are all about individual moments, so how can photographers and news organizations better contextualize those moments within history?
Monday
• Preview of week’s materials
Wednesday
• Photo discussion: Here and Now
• Protest photos
Friday
• Discussion