Panelist at The New School
Confounding Expectations: Revisiting “In, Around and Afterthoughts on Documentary Photography”
Wednesday, November 3, 2010 – 7:00 to 8:30 p.m.
The New School, Tishman Auditorium
66 West 12th Street
Aperture Foundation, the Photography Program in the School of Art, Media and Technology at Parsons and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics present a panel entitled Contemporary Documentary Practices, as part of the ongoing series, Confounding Expectations: Photography in Context.
Martha Rosler’s seminal critique of documentary photography in the 1981 text In, Around and Afterthoughts on Documentary Photography, this panel explores the viability of documentary practices today, both within the contemporary art realm and in the larger context of visual culture. In the 1981 text, Rosler claimed that documentary photography has yet to be realized in its full potential. Moving from a direct critique of documentary photographic practices, many contemporary photographers are utilizing art strategies to initiate and maintain social and political engagement through the use of the photographic medium. This discussion aims to examine photography’s ability to fostering social change in the contemporary moment and in generating a discussion about the importance of institutional and discursive framing in determining photographic meaning.
Moderated by Susan Bright, panelists include LaToya Ruby Frazier, Chris Verene, and Michael Wolf.
