The Thorny Politics of Protest Photography

Film Review

A brand new documentary follows the work of activist and photographer Misan Harriman, however dangers aestheticizing the actions he captures.

In a 2013 essay, writer Barrett Swanson requested, “At what point does the aesthetic excellence of the photograph eclipse the depicted event, or, worse, distract the viewer from inquiring into what happened?” With the synchronous explosion of digital information content material and unremitting world calamity, it’s a query that strongly resonates in the present day, significantly with images of protest and social actions. If these pictures overtly flatter the protestor, they are often accused of fueling performative activism and pulling consideration away from the disaster at hand; if they’re too stunning, they may conceal the actual danger of violence from the state. Still, if they’re too graphic, they will rob the themes of their dignity, making an inexpensive spectacle of dissidence.

These are tensions of which photographer-activist Misan Harriman, who has quickly made a reputation for himself documenting protests for the reason that summer season of 2020, is little doubt keenly conscious.

Harriman is the topic of Andy Mundy-Castle’s new documentary Shoot the People, which follows the 48-year-old Nigerian-born Brit as he chronicles activist actions throughout three continents. While Harriman’s evolution from an novice photographer to the primary Black photographer to shoot the quilt of Vogue’s September version is spectacular, extra exigent is his clever illustration of protests, particularly (although not completely) these during which primarily Black and Brown persons are filling the streets.