The session will reflect on recent civic movements from Latin America, considering the manifold ways in which photography has been deployed by members of the public towards justice seeking purposes. Starting with an in-depth discussion of the Nicaraguan case, where a large-scale student-led protest movement emerged in 2018, only to collapse into an ever-deepening human rights crisis, we will be looking at parallel examples from the region. Case studies will include Chile's estallido social from 2019-20, ongoing anti-governmental protests in Cuba, and the current post-election protests in Venezuela. While considering the intricate history of civic action and the struggle for justice in the region, the session explores the potentialities of the photographic medium. How do different publics express their political identities and demands through photography? Can their aspirations be brought into being photographically? Ultimately, what happens when photography enters the political field, in the hands of the people?
Dr. Ileana L. Selejan is Lecturer in Art History, Culture and Society at the Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh. A member of the PhotoDemos research collective, she has held curatorial, research and teaching positions at institutions including the Department of Anthropology at University College London, the Decolonising Arts Institute at UAL, Central Saint Martins, The Davis Museum at Wellesley College, New York University, Tisch School of the Arts and the Parsons School of Design. Her co-edited volume, with PhotoDemos, "Citizens of Photography: The Camera and the Political Imagination" was recently published by Duke University Press.
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Friday, March 7, 2025 at 10.00 EST • 15.00 GMT
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Image credit: A man takes a selfie with the Argüello monument in the background, Managua, May 9, 2018. Photograph by Ileana L. Selejan.