Photography is generally associated with events of the past, as if what we see in a photograph could only portray a reality that has ceased to be. “Once photographed,” reads a famous quote by American photographer Bernice Abott, “the subject becomes part of the past”. “A photograph, “ agrees writer and art critic John Berger in his essay Understanding a Photograph, “is a record of what has been, of a moment that has passed. It carries the past into the present”. But what happens when contemporary photographers capture events that are still ongoing? Are they seizing a moment bound to become history with the click of a shutter or being in the flux of current events?
Fotografia Gallery is a small exhibition space in the heart of Georgia’s capital, Tbilisi – the first entirely dedicated to photography in the country. With the exhibition EYEWITNESS, featuring six local photographers, it raised the stake of the conversation about photography and current events, with a bold move: showcasing work about the protests that have shaken the country into a constant turmoil since last Spring – just as, across the street, in Rustaveli Avenue, the protests are still ongoing.
EYEWITNESS AT FOTOGRAFIA GALLERY: PHOTOGRAPHY AND ACTIVISM
The collective show by photographers Dina Oganova, David Grigoryan, Tbel Abuseridze, Dato Koridze, Giorgi Kiknadze and Davit Sitchinava is quite literally a reflection of current events, placing the viewer within the demonstrations rather than acting as a mere spectator. In fact, at the time that the pictures were taken, all artists were both capturing and participating in the ongoing protests. The exhibition is a way of reclaiming the narrative to promote their own political agenda – another aspect that is rarely conceived as good practice in photography. On the contrary, when we look at a photograph, we are often searching for objectivity, for someone to show the world as it is. EYEWITNESS does the opposite, putting the viewer in a rather uncomfortable position, as the photographers are bluntly and explicitly taking sides – no space for distance, no room for “objectivity”. The people behind the camera are not capturing history, they are making it – while even putting their safety, their bodies, on the line, to take part in the changemaking process that the protests aim to ignite.
Police clashes, fireworks, home-made methods to protect from tear gas. The viewer is spared nothing. Demonstrators are often shown with their backs at the camera to protect their identity – while at the same time choosing this frame serves to give the impression of being there, shoulder to shoulder, within the crowd. At the same time, the plurality of views, given the collective nature of the exhibition, brings together multiple perspectives. Immersed in the struggle, choices are made: what did the photographer choose to look at? And how? Each of the gallery’s walls shows a different way of looking, and thus of photographing. Colours or black and white, the sky, the floor, the police, leftovers, dogs, the fog left by gases and fireworks, the margins, the center. The different gazes unite to create a complex and multi-layered vision of that side of the story, behind the barricades.
THE CASE OF BLACK LIVES MATTER: PHOTOGRAPHY AS A TOOL TO RECLAIM THE NARRATIVE
Something similar had already happened during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020, after the death of George Floyd, in the United States, when black photographers somewhat spontaneously started using their expertise to tell their stories, show their struggle, their suffering, their fight. “For years, “ photographer Dee Dwyer explained to NPR at the time, «our narratives have been controlled by predominantly white people, who have been our oppressors». It was time for a change: “My primary focus is humanity. The raw and compelling photographs I create during the protest unveil the souls of my people. I am here to visually clear up any misconceptions of the “misunderstood,” which in this case are black people”. Yet, capturing a subject you feel so attached to comes at a cost, as photographer Montinique Monroe explained, speaking of her own experience: “As a black photojournalist and as the daughter of a black man who was killed by a white police officer, covering the death of George Floyd has been heartbreaking. Many of the images I’ve made during this coverage were made with tears”.
ISRAELIS, PALESTINIANS, INTERNATIONALS: PHOTOGRAPHY TO FIGHT TOGETHER
Even further back, in 2005, a similar practice characterized the work of Activestills collective, founded by a group of documentary photographers “out of a strong conviction that photography is a vehicle for social and political change, “ as their statement reads. Photographers keep playing a crucial role in shaping the narrative about Palestinian struggles, and the human rights violations they endure daily. Once again, local photographers use the tools at their disposal to make their voices heard – being both witnesses and active parts in the subject they are capturing. Together, and with the help of Israeli and international allies, they create an archive of their suffering and fighting, portraying the Occupation as it still stands. It is an archive for future responsibilities, but also a mirror held up to the present.
SUBJECTS, OBJECTS, ACTORS, ARTISTS: BLURRED LINES
The result of this kind of practice is a combination of blurred lines. Past and present, subject and object, artist and actor mix, with no unclear or simplistic way out. It is about self-representation, but even more about reclaiming a voice to speak the truth about the world around the photographer’s lens – somehow decolonizing a practice that was made of being seen and portrayed from the outside for so long. It is about agency and the refusal of giving that up. Exhibitions like EYEWITNESS, in a fast-paced world, can offer a way to stop without looking back – just a way of looking outside the window, and think. Questioning both the world and the lens through which we see it.
LINK
https://fotografia-gallery.com/
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