HomePhotography and demonstration in the Americas

HomePhotography and demonstration in the Americas

Photography and demonstration in the Americas

Photographie et manifestation(s) dans les Amériques

Fotografía y manifestación(es) en las Américas

*  *  *

Published on Monday, January 15, 2024

Abstract

Lors de cette journée d’étude, nous nous intéresserons à trois types de manifestations : les spontanées suite à des événements inattendus et souvent violents (grèves, soulèvements, émeutes, etc.) ; les officielles (commémorations de dates anniversaires telles que la fête du travail, les fêtes nationales, etc.) ; les manifestations politiques et sociales liées à des combats de longue haleine (les Marches des Fiertés, les luttes pour les droits des femmes ou contre le racisme, la défense de l’IVG, les combats écologiques liés au réchauffement climatique, etc.).

Announcement

Bibliothèque La Contemporaine (Nanterre) Event date: Thursday April 25, 2024

Presentation

Representing protest in photography requires an understanding of current events in the news. Any photograph of a demonstration suggests a "hot" shot, taken in a tense and/or festive context, in connection with events or movements which, by definition, are changeable and evolving over time. These photographs are published in large numbers in the press (print and online) and on various social networks as illustrations of current events; some become iconic and, in the medium or long term, turn into visual symbols of past events, recognizable on a local, national or even international scale. Images of events are thus bound to endure over time, but can also be associated with discourses that fluctuate with time and the contexts in which they are circulated.

This workshop will focus on three types of demonstrations: spontaneous protests following unexpected and often violent events (strikes, uprisings, riots, etc.); official demonstrations (commemorations such as Labor Day, national holidays, etc.); political and social demonstrations associated with long-term struggles (Pride marches, fights for women's rights or against racism, the defense of abortion rights, ecological struggles linked to global warming, etc.).

Photographs of these events can be analyzed to highlight the characteristics of the imagery they produce and let evolve over decades, and the inter-iconicity that is emerging from that process. Drawing in part on the issues underlying the "Soulèvements" exhibition at the Jeu de Paume in 2016-17, we encourage participants to answer one of the following prompts:

  • How is photographic coverage of protest constructed (What are the strategies used by photographers and photojournalists? What are the media's tactics? How are photographs produced and circulated, and in what timeframe?) In the 21st century, this question also raises the issue of amateur photographers bearing witness and their photographs appearing more and more frequently in the press and on social networks.
  • How and why do certain photographs of demonstrations become icons of an event or struggle? Do their symbolism and uses really extend the original meaning of the events during which they were taken?
  • Can we define the gestures of protest and advocacy? Is it possible to write a history of the inter-iconicity inherent in protest photography and, in particular, to find traces of an intra-continental inter-iconicity?

The geographical scope of this conference is the American continent. Papers may cover any type of demonstration that took place on the continent, from Canada to Argentina, by way of the Caribbean: the storming of the Capitol in Washington in 2021, uprisings in Chile in 2019 or Colombia in 2021, the struggle for the abortion rights in Argentina, protests against feminicide and missing persons in Mexico, the Black Lives Matter movement in the United States, the demands of indigenous communities - the Marcha del Color de la Tierra in Mexico in 2001, for example -, etc.

Submission guidelines

Proposals (title + abstract of 500 words maximum) should be sent to: marion.gautreau@univ-tlse2.fr

by February 5, 2024.

Papers may be submitted in French, English or Spanish.

Organizers

  • Marion GAUTREAU (UT2J),
  • Casandra HERRERA CAICEDO (UT2J),
  • Camille LECUYER (CYU),
  • Camila MELO (CYU),
  • Camille ROUQUET (CYU)

One-day conference organized by Héritages-UMR9022 (CY Paris-Cergy Université), FRAMESPA (Université Toulouse - Jean Jaurès) and La contemporaine - Bibliothèque, Archives, Musée des mondes contemporains (Nanterre)

Places

  • La Contemporaine — Bibliothèque, archives, musée des mondes contemporains - 184 Cr Nicole Dreyfus
    Nanterre, France (92)

Event attendance modalities

Hybrid event (on site and online)


Date(s)

  • Monday, February 05, 2024

Keywords

  • photographie, manifestation, Amérique, États-Unis, Amérique latine, Canada, XXIe siècle

Contact(s)

  • Marion GAUTREAU
    courriel : marion [dot] gautreau [at] univ-tlse2 [dot] fr

Information source

  • Camila Melo
    courriel : camila [dot] melo [at] cyu [dot] fr

License

CC0-1.0 This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.

To cite this announcement

« Photography and demonstration in the Americas », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Monday, January 15, 2024, https://doi.org/10.58079/vkz3

Archive this announcement

  • Google Agenda
  • iCal
Search OpenEdition Search

You will be redirected to OpenEdition Search