Conference: Visualising conflict
Photojournalism and the politics of participation
This conference aims to generate a conversation between scholars, NGO workers, photo editors and activists about the role performed by images in contemporary conflicts.
Photojournalists used to hold a privileged position in conflict reporting. Today, they are joined by activists, citizens and others who also produce and disseminate images. Cell phone videos of police officers shooting unarmed, black teenagers in USA are captured by accidental bystanders and shared by the Black Lives Matter movement. The destruction and horror of the war in Syria are documented by activists, who after years of war have developed networks and acquired professional photo equipment – and skills. These practices change the role images play in conflicts, raising pressing issues about the production and veracity of images as well as safety, ethics and the politics of participation:
- Why and how does it matter that conflicts are documented and made visible to the outside world?
- How are images from conflicts created and shared in today’s connective media environment?
- How can the authenticity of images be established?
Programme
08:30 - 09:00 Coffee and croissants
09:00 - 09:15 Welcome
09:15 - 10:00 Aida El Kashef – On her experience making images matter for
a concrete social justice purpose in Egypt
10:00 - 10:45 Nagieb Khaja – On the battle for truth in Syria and the
importance of images by international journalists
10:45 - 11:15 Coffee
11:15 - 12:00 Federico Escher – On how news organisations respond
practically and policy-wise to the broad production of images
12:00 - 13:00 Lunch break (lunch will be available from the university
canteen at participants’ own cost)
13:00 - 13:45 Zeynep Gürsel – On how digitalisation has changed Labour
practices and the way images are being commodified
13:45 - 14:30 Nina Grønlykke Mollerup and Mette Mortensen – On relationship
between local Syrian photographers, NGOs and international
news organisations
14:30 - 15:00 Coffee and cake
15:00 - 15:45 Nicholas Mirzoeff – On why visibility matters from a contemporary
and historical perspective, including how it influences conflict
15:45 - 17:00 Panel discussion – Sara Creta, visual journalist and research
fellow at the Institute of Future Media and Journalism at Dublin City
University, Mette Sandbye, Head of Department of Arts and Cultural
Studies, Susanna Inkinen, programme manager at International Media
Support and Malene Aadal Bo, head of media at Oxfam IBIS
17:00 Drinks reception
The conference is organised by International Media Support (IMS) and the research group Images of Conflict, Conflicting Images at University of Copenhagen (ICCI), Department of Media, Cognition and Communication
