[spectre] (IN)VISIBLE CONFLICTS – the crisis in photojournalism

[Eric Kluitenberg]

A  N  N  O  U  N  C  E  M  E  N  T

(IN)VISIBLE CONFLICTS – the crisis in photojournalism

A day of lectures, presentations and discussion on war reporting in the 
media

Wednesday, November 2, from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
At: De Balie, Kleine Gartmanplantsoen 10, Amsterdam;
or on-line: http://www.debalie.nl/live

Organised by the Nederlands Foto Museum
in cooperation with Paradox Foundation and De Balie


The internationally lauded book Why Mister, Why? by photojournalist
Geert van Kesteren makes at least one thing clear: we in the ‘West’ have
gotten to see extremely little of the conduct of the American army in
Iraq. Van Kesteren’s report on the collision between the soldiers
bringing ‘freedom and democracy’ and the Iraqi people is not only
revealing and shocking, but it has also provided information about the
situation on the spot, and has thus fulfilled a desperate need. That
raises the questions of how it is possible that the majority of these
images have hardly been seen in the Western media before – and why for
instance one could not escape images of the tsunami, while Darfur
remained – and remains – largely invisible?

What does the rise of embedded journalism, the ‘amateur’ with his
digital camera (Abu Ghraib!) or camphone, and the internet mean for the
position of the photojournalist in international conflicts? What do they
mean for the future of photojournalism in this context? What news media
are still effective today, in 2005, when it comes to war and conflicts,
and for whom do they work? What possibilities do photographers and other
image-makers have in this context for bringing their work out, and who
determines what appears in the news? Do art museums or other museums
afford a stage for making contemporary questions such as international
conflicts visible and stimulating discussion about them?

Speakers:
Susan Meiselas (photographer and guest lecturer, Faculty of
the Arts/University of Leiden; USA), Mark Durden (Reader in History and
Theory of Photography, University of Derby, UK), Hans Aarsman
(photographer, writer), Geert van Kesteren (photojournalist), Prof. dr.
Henri Beunders (Professor of History, Media and Culture, Erasmus
University Rotterdam), Kari Andén-Papadopoulos (Research fellow, Dept.
of Journalism, Media and Communication Studies, Stockholm University;
S), Brigitte van der Sande (art historian and curator of the exhibition
Soft Target: War as Daily, First Hand Reality (BAK, Utrecht)), Nico
Haasbroek (journalist, former editor in chief, NOS Television News
Journal), Bas Vroege (director, Paradox) and Edie Peters (teaches image
editing, Hogeschool van Amsterdam, former chief photo editor, de
Volkskrant).

Place: De Balie, Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10, Amsterdam
Date: Wednesday, November 2, 2005
Time: 11:00 a.m. – 17:00 p.m.(lunch from 1:00 – 1:45 p.m.)
Admission: € 15,- (incl. coffee/tea; excl. lunch); students € 10 (incl.
coffee/tea; excl. lunch)
Reservations are strongly recommended: De Balie tel. +31 (0)20 5535100
(between 1:00 and 8:30 p.m.)

You can also follow the program via the live stream:
http://www.debalie.nl/live

Links:

Why Mister, Why? website:
http://www.whymisterwhy.com/

Nederlands Fotomuseum:
http://www.nederlandsfotomuseum.nl/

Paradox:
http://www.paradox.nl/

De Balie Media:
http://www.debalie.nl/media


(with thanks to InfoWarRoom and the University of Leiden/Faculty of Arts)