2How Photographers Capture the Emotion of a Protest
NORTHERN IRELAND. Derry. Riot, 10° birthday. 1979.
The impact of a protest isn’t always easily quantifiable. Though some uprisings have resulted in immediate and tangible change, some start slow-burning fires that spread gradually through popular consciousness. Others fail to make any substantial dent on the status quo. But there’s no doubt that the freedom to express one’s beliefs in a peaceful manner, without fear, is a necessary part of democracy.
Photography’s role in this democratic exercise has changed over the years, particularly as technology has developed and mutated, and a new Magnum Photo exhibition makes that clear by looking back at the scale and impact of protest photography from the 1930s up until the present day.
The show — part of the agency’s Magnum at 70 program — will feature photographs taken by its members, many of which have taken on a totemic value in popular culture. Pictures such as Marc Riboud’s Vietnam War protestor from 1967 will sit alongside contemporary offerings such as Larry Towell’s Standing Rock series from 2017.
3Out in the streets – Workshop
In the last decade, Kathmandu has grown into a creative hub. Today, the Valley houses more creatives and art enthusiasts than it ever did before. The number of younger and grittier artists, writers, producers, and photographers is at an all time high.
With the growing accessibility of both smart camera-phones and DSLR cameras, photography in general, and street photography more so, has become a field that this very crowd is easily drawn to. Even when it has always been around, street photography is ‘trending’ of late.
With an aim to further catalyse this trend, an intensive three-day photography workshop has kicked off in the Capital, on Saturday. Organised by Sattya Media Arts Collective within and around its premises, the Street photography workshop aims to share more tricks and tips, and some technical knowledge with its participants under instructor Rabik Upadhyay.
4Street Photography Tips For Your Cuba Adventure – or any Trip, Really
Tell a story
Whether you’re a professional or just intending on posting your photos on social media, coming back with images that tell a story will be much more enjoyable for your viewers. So, instead of only taking selfies in front of monuments or landscapes, consider photographing all aspects of your trip: your hotel room, its view if it’s nice, your meals, people you encounter, souvenir shops, still life, street performers, lifestyle, landscapes, interesting or unique cultural experiences you come across, etc. Broadening the subject matter of the images you shoot will be much more interesting for your fans and you’ll learn a lot more from the experience altogether.
5Feng Liu, photographer of Chicago’s melting pot
Feng Liu is an American photographer who lives in Chicago. He is one of the oldest readers of the Eye of Photography. Taking pictures is his reason for living. He makes dozens of photos per day. A year ago, he created his blog. Here is the story of a passion.
In 1999, I moved to Chicago from Shanghai, China. I was immediately captured by its colorful culture and people. I was totally stunned by its vitality and power, which I had never seen or imagined before. There was a strong urge inside of me which wanted to express my feelings and reaction to this great city. I started to use my lifelong passion, photography, to document what I saw, what I felt and what I thought even though my first job in Chicago was as an engineer.
The city of Chicago is truly a big melting pot. Everywhere you look, you can see people from almost each corner of the world; everywhere you go, you can find evidence of individual ethnic customs or traditions. Each culture and custom are well respected and preserved. Yet, in the midst of diversity, I saw similarity: love of freedom and opportunities, warm, being kind and generous, outgoing and carefree, honest and straight, dedicated and resourceful. Different cultures shaped the city of Chicago, which in turn, modified each ethnic group in the city.
6The Native Eye: Re-Embracing the Serpent with “Chullachaqui”
The very rhetoric of documentary photography has its roots in the Western notions of “truth,” “presence,” and ethnography. From the American Tract Society’s illustrated publications elucidating the role of Christ in evangelical missions,1 to postcards and cartoons, photographers always had a plethora of Western narratives to be used as a frame of reference for extending the role of colonisation and imperialism through photography. John MacKenzie points out the intricate, yet glaring, relationship between colonial expansion and its strategies of visual moderation to promote the imperialist mission. He stresses the fact that photography has a quality of “self-generating ethos,” which was widely used in disseminating stereotypical constructs of native Americans, while hiding the obvious fact of conscious manipulations on behalf of the colonizer.
