PHOTOGRAPHY AS IMAGE POLITICS

Arno Gisinger’s as well as Bouchra Khaili‘s installational works, connected by their interest in media history, provide the originating point for the continuation of the debate on image politics. From the laterna magica on to 19th century dioramas towards the first camcorder, they examine imaging techniques and visual means of presentation in the context of political struggles to reflect on them as part of the collective memory as well as in their contemporary reference.

During the time of the historic beginnings of photography as a medium, the Paris Commune occurred as an intrusion into the urban and representative space of power and its respective staging. The performative downing of the triumphal column at the Place Vendôme refers to the relevance of media practice and image policies right at the beginning of photography’s history. The Communards, following the overthrowing of said column, renamed the Place Vendôme, as it became the Place Internationale. Contemporary protest movements also bring down monuments, and with them, at least symbolically, the powers-that-be. They act, not least, via digital cameras and media representation on the internet and in social media, simultaneously evading the omnipresent repression of state powers so highly equipped with surveillance equipment. During the Arab Spring, on the streets of Hong Kong, on the sites of climate policy fights, in the urban movements for a “Right to the City”, or in the conflicts surrounding postcolonial image inventories – visual practices are part and parcel of political action and operation. The channels on which these images circulate offer an essential infrastructure of visibility, mobilisation, and debate.

Fotografie als Politik der Bilder/ Photography as Image Politics connects protagonists who stand for (photographic) image production and circulation at the centre of their own artistic, theoretical, activist, or curatorial practice. Starting from short inputs on the respective practical discourse with concrete image material, we will proceed to image analysis and discussion involving all those present.