Antiphotojournalism and its claim in the context of the museum

Doctoraalscriptie Kunstgeschiedenis
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We citeren uit de inleiding:
"In this thesis I will research the claim the exhibition Antiphotojournalism is making with regard to the current position
of photojournalism, touching on the reality-constitutive effects of media practices, as well as the notions of critique and rhetoric.
I investigate how the artists that take part in the exhibition individually position themselves with regard to photojournalism or anti photojournalism. Are there comparable strategies at work?
Furthermore I critically reflect on the role and context of the museum as a possible place of discourse for the claim of Antiphotojournalism. Is it possible for a museum of photography to declare create a critical discourse on what is seen as one of the pillars of photography? Jorge Ribalta, who himself works for the MACBA, formulates the following conditions: “I am critical of bourgeois artistic autonomy, even if simultaneously I defend art institutions like the museum. More precisely what I defend is the unresolved tension between artistic autonomy, social knowledge and politics; and to me the documentary aspect of photography embodies that tension in a singularly intense way which needs to be preserved and radicalized. But I’m not against good art. I’m interested in good art made under strong tensions.”
Questions:
These questions follow: How does Antiphotojournalism relate to photojournalism and its practises? How does Antiphotojournalism critique existing practises and how does Antiphotojournalism propose to answer that critique?
And how does the context of the museum function as a locus for this endeavor?
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Introduction 4
1. How did the document move into the museum?
1.1 Constructing documentary in the museum, the usual suspect 6
1.2 Meanwhile, reconstructing the document 10
1.3 Deconstructing documentary, Martha Rosler and Allan Sekula 12
1.4 Realism and Photography: artistic autonomy, social knowledge and politics. 14
Allan Sekula
1.5 Why Photography matters more as art/as document as never before 16
1.6 So... 19
2 Antiphotojournalism, an exhibition
2.1 Antiphotojournalism 20
2.2 What’s wrong with photojournalism? 21
2.3 Antiphotojournalism, as used by Carles Guerra 23
2.4 Who is Who in Antiphotojournalism 24
2.5 How do they do it? 28
* Interactivity/Performativity 33
* Witnessing 36
2.6 Are we Citicens of Photograhy? 38
3 Antiphotojournalism and the museum
3.1 The museum as a place for activism, how could that work? 41
3.2 Antiphotojournalism, why in the museum? 42
3.3 Antiphotojournalism, which museum? 44
3.4 Antiphotojournalism in FOAM 47
Conclusion 50
Bibliography 52
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Please click URL to see the digital version
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Citaten:
Szarkowski, J.: The Photographer's Eye (1966)
Sekula, A.: The Traffic in Photographs (1981)
Flusser, V.: Towards a Philosophy of Photography (1983)
Rosler, Martha
Sekula, A.: The Body and the Archive (October 39, 1986)
Sekula, A.: Dismantling Modernism, Reinventing Documentary (1984)