S T O R Y T E L L I N G A N D D O C U M E N T A T I O N:
F R O M O N E M O U T H T O A N O T H E R E A R
B R I A N M E T A
The way in which stories are told can vastly change what is communicated to the recipient. Perhaps the documenter wishes to exaggerate a certain point in the subject’s story or chooses to tell it in a way to suit a different audience. However, the documenter chooses what to report with a certain intention. A particular area of interest is the comparison between an insider and an outsider telling a story, especially in the common example of photographic documentation. This essay will examine the complexity of the ‘inside/outside’ position of the photographer in relation to their subject, where truth is associated with being on the inside and objectivity is related to being on the outside, and how this affects the representation of the subject and the story the photographer tells about them. Firstly the binary couple inside/outside will be discussed with theory mainly from Abigail Solomon-Godeau and Susan Sontag, followed by analysis on the work done by Dalia Khamissy and Marcus Bleasdale. Lastly, an interpretation of the method implemented by Shahidul Alam to address this dilemma.
In her 1994 essay Inside/Out, Abigail Solomon-Godeau explores the inside/outside position of the photographer, introducing Diane Arbus as an example of an outsider. This is supported by Susan Sontag in her 1977 publication On Photography, where Sontag critiques Arbus’ work, on deviants and marginalised people, referring to Arbus as a “… supertourist” (Sontag 1977: 42) for objectifying people and lacking empathy towards her subjects. From this it is understood that the insider position is considered good implying a position of partaking, engagement and privileged knowledge and the isolated outsider position is considered bad, due to an alienated distance between the photographer and subject. This is affirmed by Martha Rosler, a writer and artist who authored In, Around and Afterthoughts (On Documentary Photography), who views outsider photography as ‘victim photography’ and suggests self-representation as an alternative, empowering the subjects and promoting equality. “… The binary couple inside/outside” (Solomon-Godeau 1994: 49) can be seen as a central theme to the issue of photographic documentation, spanning from Sontag contrasting empathy and disconnection with the subject, to Rosler highlighting issues from a Marxist perspective, of authority, subjection and equality. Despite this fact, the photojournalist, the ‘supertourist’, the documentary photographer etc. still commits an act of violence, by taking something from the subject, only seeing a partial and distorted view of the subject to be represented, listening and recording only what they find engaging.
Dalia Khamissy, a photographer born and brought up in Beirut, covers socio-political stories from across the region. Khamissy’s work The Missing focuses on the 17,000 people who went missing during 1975-1990 in the Lebanese civil war. In a 2013 interview for Phonar, Khamissy recalls an occasion where a busload of people drove past with cameras taking photographs whilst she stood outside with one of her subjects listening to her story. Indeed, this morbidly voyeuristic action is an illustration of photographers being on the outside due to the disregard of their subjects and lack of compassionate involvement, comparable to Arbus’ work mentioned earlier. In contrast to Arbus, Khamissy’s work is an example of work forged by an insider, which Solomon-Godeau refers to as the ‘confessional’ mode (Solomon-Godeau 1994: 52). Furthermore, in her photographs, we can see that the camera does not distance her from her subjects, but paradoxically almost creates clarity and compassion, letting the viewer know that her work and photographs are purely for her subjects, putting them before herself. The photographs within her subjects’ homes show how close Khamissy came to the subjects with her camera, triggering the viewer to assume an intimate relationship between the photographer and the subject. In his 1979 publication The Eiffel Tower and Other Mythologies, Roland Barthes summarised the analgesic sensation of viewing photographs of despair by writing, “Someone has shuddered for us; reflected for us, judged for us; the photographer has left us nothing – except a simple right of intellectual acquiescence” (Barthes 1979: 71). To put it differently, one observes photographs of tragic events and feels relieved that they are not taking place nearby. Khamissy’s work does not give a voyeuristic impression. With her photographs, she tells the stories of people she relates to who have been in situations she has had or has heard of. Being born and raised in Beirut distinguishes her from other outside photographers, due to her innate connection with the people and the land, giving her access to these opportunities.
Although Khamissy’s work is incredibly intimate, it is still only Khamissy’s version of the authentic story. The viewer will never be able to understand or experience the reality exactly in the way Khamissy’s subjects have and neither will the photographer due to everyone’s unique perceptions and approaches in life.
Similar to Khamissy, Marcus Bleasdale is a photographer who has shown compassion for his subjects through his photographic work but, has also done so in his actions outside of photography. Bleasdale has set up an orphanage in eastern Congo with a group of journalists to help solve the crisis there, which now looks after 97 children. These actions place Bleasdale in a complex position when it comes to using the inside/outside dualism. Bleasdale is a white, western photojournalist, and would regularly be considered as an outsider in the regions he works in. However, his work has the intimacy of an insider and lacks the ‘clinicality’ that one would expect from an outsider. Bleasdale was among the few journalists covering the ongoing conflict in the Central African Republic during 2013/2014, documenting the violence for Human Rights Watch. In his 2002 publication One Hundred Years of Darkness, he covered the conflict within the borders of the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998. These works and others have given him recognition for influencing policymakers around the world.
It is clear in Bleasdale’s work and commentaries that he has a substantial amount of understanding and involvement in the situations he documents and consideration for the people represented in his work. In a 2013 interview with photographer Jonathan Worth, Bleasdale states that the “… image is one part of it, understanding the environment, the people and the concept are far more important” (Bleasdale 2013). From this, it is observed that photography can be deeper than a single image when the concept of narrative is used, almost countering Henri Cartier-Bresson’s famous ‘decisive moment’. This relates to Khamissy’s recollection of the reactive photographers mentioned earlier. The photographs produced from the ‘drive-by shooters’ in Khamissy’s memory would lack the depth Bleasdale speaks of due to being nothing more than photographs shot at a decisive moment with no connection or understanding to what is inside the photographic image. Bleasdale’s understanding of photographic documentation resonates with Robert Capa’s axiom, “If your photos aren’t good enough, you’re not close enough”, which was transformed during a 2007 talk in New York by practitioner Tod Papageorge, to; “If your photos aren’t good enough, you’re not reading enough” (Papageorge 2007). This more recent version addresses the necessity of every photographer to understand what they are photographing; to become familiar with the context and subject. The only knowledge we have of events are those that someone else has narrated to us, which is important to consider when the role of the storyteller is taken on. Context can be found in different forms; typically it is through extensive research, however, it can also be achieved through living and experience which come together to enlighten the choices photographers make. Context is a defining factor in making an image, in a 2010 talk for Phonar, David Campbell outlines its importance by stating that “… the work that sustains itself over time is the work that understands its own context” (Campbell 2010).
However, like Khamissy, Bleasdale’s work is only his version of the true story, a copy carved into paper through writing and image. Yet, Bleasdale is different in that he is situated in the complex position between outsider and insider, an ‘unplotted’ relationship between him and his subjects. This raises the point that perhaps Solomon-Godeau’s binarism of insider/outsider is not just a duality, but could be better described as a scale, insider on one end and outsider on the other. The judgment of where on the scale a photographer lies would be made through the amount of engagement, involvement, compassion etc. which is undertaken in the stories of the people the photographer represents. This also highlights that no one can truly become an ‘absolute insider’ to someone else’s story apart from the original storyteller. When photographers document someone else’s story the true and undistorted version of that narrative remains with the original storyteller. In other words, only the creator of the story who has experienced and lived through it can be the absolute insider to that story, others can empathise, but will never feel it in the same way the original storyteller has as it has been created through their unique experiences, emotions and perspectives.
Powerful stories, however, have a need to be shared and the original storyteller may not have the skills and/or resources to disseminate their stories around the globe, which is why photographers and journalists undertake the role of storyteller in order to relay their stories for them, some doing it well, some not.
Shahidul Alam is a storyteller and photographer from Bangladesh who, in his own way understood the impossibility of becoming an absolute insider to someone else’s story. In a 2013 talk for Phonar, Alam states that, “The photographs taken at the time were taken by visiting photographers, usually white person photographers, who came over with a certain type of imagery” (Alam 2013). He blames them for this distortion of information capturing only famine, poverty and hardship. However even as a Bangladeshi photographer, he was a middle-class male and recognised this as being a barrier between himself and other people. For instance, while he would take photographs of, say, a woman in a slum in Bangladesh, the distance between them was similar to the distance between the subject and a foreign photographer, both being outsiders and being in positions of authority over the woman, leaving her subjugated. Alam wanted to give these people the opportunity to represent themselves and to be able to tell their own stories in the hopes of ending ‘supertourism’ and preventing a distorted and decontextualised reproduction of the original storyteller’s narrative. In her 2003 publication Regarding the Pain of Others, Susan Sontag explains, in contradiction of decontextualisation, how matching images of children slaughtered in rural bombardments were handed around during Croatian and Serbian propaganda meetings in the period of the Balkan wars (Sontag 2003: 9). The Rural Visual Journalism Network (RVJN) and DRIK were created by Alam empowering the rural people of Bangladesh to tell their own story and to combat the interests of mainstream media and to address perception about majority world people. RJVN started with Alam teaching rural people how to use recording devices to tell and record their own stories, allowing an absolute insider’s perspective. The stories would then be sent to RVJN to be disseminated without intervention or manipulation to the stories.
To recapitulate, the first point to note is the notion that the insider/outsider position of the photographer that has been investigated is more complex than just a duality. It should, instead, be seen as a scale with inside and outside being on both extremes. Secondly, due to people’s unique perceptions, perspectives and experiences in life, the only absolute insider to a story would be the creator of that story. Once the story gets passed on, going through its first iteration, it only becomes a version of the original and will be different, even if similar. Humans are unique; therefore, it is logical to consider that their stories would also be unique. Thirdly, a photographer attempting to relay the storyteller’s narrative, through their own photography in the way that the person they are representing would, is attempting the impossible. Without a doubt, Alam’s method of allowing the original storyteller to speak their story solves this dilemma of getting the undistorted story of the absolute insider out to the world. However, systems like this need to be implemented around the globe for it to make a material impact.
Ultimately, as photographers and storytellers, it is important to recognise the power of the camera. The ethics in which we can distort an image should be questioned, considering how the viewers can have their prejudices persuaded and how the subjects are affected, the kind of disservice they can be subjected to through the images produced and the actions both taken and not taken when doing so.
L I S T O F R E F E R E N C E S
Barthes, R. (1979) ‘The Eiffel Tower and Other Mythologies’ New York: Hill and Wang 71
Driknews.com, (2012) Driknews : International News Photo Agency [online] available from <http://www.driknews.com/> [28 October 2014]
Internet Archive, (2013) Dalia Khamissy : Internet Archive available from <https://archive.org/details/DaliaKhamissy281013> [11 November 2014]
Internet Archive, (2013) Marcus Bleasdale #Phonar : Internet Archive available from <https://archive.org/details/MarcusBTask> [9 December 2014]
Internet Archive, (2013) Shahidul Alam : Jonathan Worth : Internet Archive available from <https://archive.org/details/ShahidulAlamWorth> [14 November 2014]
Pathshala.net, (2011) Pathshala South Asian Media Institute [online] available from <http://pathshala.net/> [16 November 2014]
Papageorge, T. (2007) ‘Collapsing Images (Truth and Authenticity in Photography Part III)’ New York Public Library: Blind Spot
Rosler, M. (1981) ‘In, Around and Afterthoughts (On Documentary Photography)’ Rosler 3 Works, Halifax, N.S.: Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design 306-339
Solomon-Godeau, A. (1994) ‘Inside/Out (Public Information: Desire, Disaster, Document, Exhibition)’ Catalog. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. New York: Art Publishers, 49-62
Sontag, S. (1977) ‘On Photography’ New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 41-42
Sontag, S. (2003) ‘Regarding the Pain of Others’ London: Penguin Books: Hamish Hamilton 9
SoundCloud, (2010) David Campbell – Narrative, Power And Responsibility available from <https://soundcloud.com/mattjohnston/david-campbell> [13 November 2014]
B I B L I O G R A P H Y
Adams, R. (1994) ‘Why People Photograph’ New York: Aperture
Akeret, R.U. (1973) ‘How to Interpret the Hidden Psychological Meaning of Personal Photographs’ New York: Peter H. Wyden, Inc.
Barrett, T. (2000) ‘Criticizing Photographs: An Introduction to Understanding Images’ California: Mayfield Publishing Company.
Barthes, R. (1979) ‘The Eiffel Tower and Other Mythologies’ New York: Hill and Wang 71
Barthes, R. (1984) ’Camera Lucida’ London: Fontana
Bate, D. (2009) ‘Photography: The Key Concepts’ Oxford: Berg
Bull, S. (2010) ‘Photography’ London: Routledge
Davies, L. (2014) Shoot Stories: Marcus Bleasdale – Telegraph available from <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/photography/10644785/Shoot-Stories-Marcus-Bleasdale.html> [26 October 2014]
Driknews.com, (2012) Driknews :: International News Photo Agency available from <http://www.driknews.com/> [28 October 2014]
Fontcuberta, J. (2014) ‘Pandora’s Camera’ S.l: Mack
Grundberg, A. (1990) ‘Crisis Of The Real’ New York: Massachusetts: Aperture Foundation, 167-212
Hornblower, S. (2012) Spawforth, A. & E. Eidinow (eds.), ‘The Oxford Classical Dictionary 4th Ed’ Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press, 695-696
Internet Archive, (2013) Dalia Khamissy : Internet Archive available from <https://archive.org/details/DaliaKhamissy281013> [11 November 2014]
Internet Archive, (2013) Marcus Bleasdale #Phonar : Internet Archive available from <https://archive.org/details/MarcusBTask> [9 December 2014]
Internet Archive, (2013) Ritchin Bending The Frame Interview : Internet Archive available from <https://archive.org/details/RitchinBtfInterview> [18 October 2014]
Internet Archive, (2013) Shahidul Alam : Jonathan Worth : Internet Archive available from <https://archive.org/details/ShahidulAlamWorth> [14 November 2014]
Internet Archive, (2013) Stephen Mayes On Tim Hetherington : Internet Archive available from <https://archive.org/details/MayesOnHetherington640x480_201310> [26 October 2014]
Jazeera, T. (2015) Angelique Kidjo: ‘Africa Isn’t Just Diseases’ available from <http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/talktojazeera/2014/11/angelique-kidjo-africa-isn-just-diseases-2014112813420950185.html> [4 January 2015]
Katyal, M. (2013) Locating The Missing – Dalia Khamissy | Photography | Emaho Magazine available from <http://www.emahomagazine.com/2013/02/locating-the-missing-dalia-khamissy/> [4 January 2015]
Langford, M. (1980) ‘The Story of Photography’ London: Focal Press
Lester, P.M. (2000) ’Visual Communication: Images with Messages’ Belmont: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning
Morris, B. (1986) ‘Images: Illusion and Reality’ Canberra: Australian Academy of Science.
Norwegian Film Institute, (2014) Syrian Hero Boy [online] available from <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAcAKAPmXAw> [30 October 2014]
NVIDIA, (2014) GAME24: Debunking Lunar Landing Conspiracies With Maxwell And VXGI available from <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9y_AVYMEUs> [11 October 2014]
Ritchin, F. (1999) ‘In Our Own Image: The Coming Revolution in Photography’ New York: Aperture
Ritchin, F. 2009 ‘After Photography’ New York: W.W. Norton
Pathshala.net, (2011) Pathshala South Asian Media Institute available from <http://pathshala.net/> [16 November 2014]
Papageorge, T. (2007) ‘Collapsing Images (Truth and Authenticity in Photography Part III)’ New York Public Library: Blind Spot
Rosler, M. (1981) ‘In, Around and Afterthoughts (On Documentary Photography)’ Rosler 3 Works, Halifax, N.S.: Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design 306-339
Rosler, M. (2004) ‘Decoys And Disruptions’ Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press in association with International Center of Photography, New York
Said, E.W. (1979) ‘Orientalism’ New York: Vintage Books
Sekula, A. (1978) ‘Dismantling Modernism, Reinventing Documentary (Notes on the Politics of Representation)’ The Massachusetts Review Vol. 19, No. 4. Massachusetts: The Massachusetts Review, Inc, 859-83
Solomon-Godeau, A. (1994) ‘Inside/Out (Public Information: Desire, Disaster, Document, Exhibition)’ Catalog. San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. New York: Art Publishers, 49-62
Sontag, S. (1977) ‘On Photography’ New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux 41-42
Sontag, S. (2003) ‘Regarding the Pain of Others’ London: Penguin Books: Hamish Hamilton 9
Stallabrass, J. (2013) ‘Documentary (Whitechapel: Documents of Contemporary Art)’ London: Whitechapel Gallery
SoundCloud, (2010) David Campbell – Narrative, Power And Responsibility [online] available from <https://soundcloud.com/mattjohnston/david-campbell> [13 November 2014]
Taylor, J. (1998) Body Horror. New York: New York University Press
Telegraph, (2008) Career Change: Banker-Turned-Photojournalist [online] available from <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/4015461/Career-change-Banker-turned-photojournalist.html> [16 December 2014]
Wells, L (2009) ‘Photography a Critical Introduction’ 4th edn. Abingdon: Routledge
| Brian Meta | 