Photography as a social practice
Melanie Muddle
Photography is an ideal medium for facilitating socially engaged projects as it questions the dynamics of power and voice.
Photographs do not just record the world around us, they influence our behaviours, actions and understanding. Photography is an ideal medium for facilitating socially engaged projects as it questions the dynamics of power and voice.
The term ‘socially engaged practice’ describes the intentional effort of artists (including photographers) to facilitate projects that empower people to represent themselves, to participate as equals in the process of image-making and to have a say in the ways these images are shared with audiences.
And then, we ask:
How do we question and challenge existing narratives?
How do we witness less and participate more?
What role does photography have to play in this?
How do we shift the power balance between the photographer and the subject?
How do we open space for new narratives?
From which perspective are stories told and whose voice needs to be heard?
How do you make stories ‘with’ a community and not ‘for an audience?
Is the end product or the process more important?
How do people access and experience the stories?
How can we gather and share stories that empower individuals and the community?
These questions don’t have definitive answers but instead invite ongoing conversation and drive us to consider how we approach our work as we engage in image making and ethical storytelling, humbly seeking new knowledge and understanding.
