Photography as Activism

This weeks text is written by Michelle Bogre named Photography as activism, images for social change. The text talks about the word activism and the complexity of it through philosophical and historical aspects.

For this review I will be concentrating on chapter 1, which is about the practice and process of activism. I have chosen this particular chapter as I find it would help me understand the text the most and would be interesting in how activism is practiced. To my understanding activism photography is similar to documentary photography, the difference is activism is the use of campaigning to bring a political or social change. In terms of photography it seems to be photographing the political and social change within the world.

In the text it talks about the early history of activism. It was seen in the early days of photography, the camera was able to render the reality, which was better then any other medium, as it was then made a tool of activists. Then moving onto war photography and early conflict photography, these are seen as an activist message, whether being intentional or not. The way I understand it is war and conflict photography is seen as activism due to using the photos to change the conflict of war. Also using photography to document the social change of harsh economic reality, being the result of post-civil war depression.

To conclude my understanding within the text is low but I have learnt that activism is a political or social change which is used within types of photography.