| |
| META TOPICPARENT | name="SecondEssay" |
|---|
| |
<
< | Why do Visuals of Violence Fail to Move the Needle In The Fight For Racial Justice | >
> | Re-claiming the presentation of Black Figures in Photography | | | -- By GabrielleStanfield - 23 Apr 2022 | |
<
< | Visualizing Injustice | >
> | On Photography | | | | |
<
< | The field of art and the law though seemingly unrelated have emerged as areas of significant overlap in the context of social justice and racial equality. Specifically, in the past few years, photographs and videos are considered to have been a defining factor, generating the necessary momentum in the present-day movement for a reckoning around racism. It is important to distinguish these images from art. Where art is something that we typically associate with beauty and care, the images in question here do not provide any such considerations. The skillset, however, of visual analysis as applied to art is relevant. A photograph, in the same way as a painting, presents a composition constructed of fundamental elements of color, line, and shape. Moreover, we analyze visual material in the context of the background of the creator, the subject of the piece, and the social or historical frame. The experience of visual analysis is thought-provoking and personal, it allows each viewer to engage with an image in a deeply individualized manner. | >
> | In her 1977 collection of essays, On Photography, Susan Sontag considered the significance of photography as well as controversial effects tied to the growth of this art form. Considering this analysis as an art history student, I found that the study of photography across periods and cultural contexts revealed the complexity of photographs fueled by their duality as a category of art as well as a tool of documentation. Photographs appear to provide a sense of truth and confirmation, allowing us to see and experience a moment with our own eyes. However, the careful study of the practice reveals a high level of intentionality through the careful selection of the many elements that constitute an image. A photograph presents a composition constructed of fundamental elements of color, line, and vantage point. The photographer takes agency to inform the viewer’s interpretation, sparking an interplay between their intended themes and the viewer’s own values and experiences. The experience of visual analysis is thought-provoking and personal, allowing each viewer to engage with an image in a deeply individualized but subjective manner. | | | | |
<
< | The repeated imagery of racial violence in recent years, though painful, has created what some view as an opportunity for change by illuminating the extent of systemic injustice and affirming the distinct barriers faced by Black Americans. The so-called racial reckoning. | >
> | Photographing Black Experiences | | | | |
<
< |
Why is an Instagram post the correct source here?
| >
> | My particular interest falls within the depiction of Black figures in photography. In one sense, photography has consistently served as a powerful tool for Black artists to capture the breadth of Black culture —for example, James Van Der Zee’s captivating photographs of Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s. Reclaiming highly regarded traditions of studio portraiture, Van Der Zee’s canon depicting affluence and social life within Black neighborhoods of Harlem set a new standard for the visual presentation of the Black body rooted in dignity, elegance, and sophistication. As Sontag characterizes it, photographing allows the artist to “accord value to their subjects.” Susan Sontag, On Photography 28 (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1997). Depictions of Black experience through imagery did just that, providing a platform for Black artists to re-cast narrow and stereotypical perceptions of Blackness and reveal the diversity of experience throughout history. Today, contemporary Black photographers continue to use the medium as a tool to explore the diverse characteristics of Black figures, like the work of Ronan McKenzie in her 2015 exhibition “A Black Body”. In contrast to images of exploitation, sexualization, and brutality against the Black body,McKenzie seeks to convey strength, life, and versatility through images that feel personal and authentic, thus emphasizing the empowering capacity of photographs. | | | | |
<
< | However, this is not a new phenomenon, in fact in the history of racial equality, images have consistently served as a catalyst for public response and, on occasion, legal progress. For example, the violence caught on film toward peaceful protesters on Bloody Sunday triggered a pivotal turning point in the Civil Rights Movement as global attention was captured, resulting in the Voting Rights Act of 1965. | >
> | Memorializing Violence Against the Black Body | | | | |
<
< |
What does "resulting in" mean? That but for some particular images Lyndon Johnson would not have been able to move the Voting Righta Act through the US Congress? Is there a source for this interpretation of the history?
| >
> | However, for all of the value created through the photography of Black culture, these efforts have continually faced opposition rooted in White supremacy through acts that have stifled the positive and progressive representation of Black culture. Adopting the words of Sontag, “Just as the camera is a sublimation of the gun, to photograph someone is a sublimated murder.” Sontag, 14. From continual stereotypical images of Black figures as the carefree happy negro, mammy caricature, or in Blackface minstrelsy to images of outright brutality against Black figures, photography has served as an instrument of violation itself. | | | | |
>
> | Practices of violence against Black bodies are deeply intertwined with the history of imagery and photography. For example, the history of lynching photography in the 19th and 20th centuries. Shawn Michelle Smith, Photography on the color line: W.E.B. Du Boise, race, and visual culture 112-18 (Duke University Press, 2004) Through the photography of these very public events centered around the spectacle of violence against the Black body, the memory of these events was made accessible to the very same white audiences, drawn to the “spectacle of Black death.” Smith, 118. In recent years, images of racial violence have again permeated our newsfeeds. Stills from videos capturing the final moments of life of Black Americans murdered on camera have captured the attention of mainstream society. | | | | |
<
< | In 1991, the videotaped beating of Rodney King by Los Angeles police sparked the notorious LA race riots motivating reforms to address excessive force in the department’s policing practices through measures including discipline reports and the diversification of LAPD leadership. | >
> | Within this phenomenon, it appeared possible that the documentation of violence at the hands of the police would become the defining factor, generating the necessary momentum in the present-day movement for a reckoning around racism. We hoped that bearing witness to injustice may present a unique challenge to acknowledge our proximity to White supremacy and engage on these issues. But ultimately, we are trapped in a cycle, where proof is not enough. | | | | |
<
< |
I think we would say that the riots followed the acquittal of the officers who beat King, correct?
| >
> | The same interactive process by which images derive meaning opens them up for interpretation that exceeds what one may see as their expected scope. Thus, the meaning of an image can vary so much so that obvious and blatant racist exercises of violence at the hands of police which appear an objective fact are still subject to debate. An important consideration here is the significance of the audience to these images. As the distribution of images has become more accessible, the subjective exercise of interpreting these stills has opened up as well. | | | | |
>
> | Re-claiming Black Figures in Photography | | | | |
<
< | I witnessed this personally as a student following the events of August 2017 in Charlottesville, as steps to address remnants of racism at the University of Virginia were set in motion by the jarring front-page image of white supremacists brandishing tiki torches on Grounds and national response to this display of hatred. More than reading or hearing about these instances, images seem to capture our attention as they depict truth in an undeniable capacity. | >
> | Considering both the personalization of visual analysis as well as the increasingly public audience for these images in our current society, I do not think that photographs of violence against the Black body serve as a valuable tool in the fight for racial justice. As with images of lynchings, I believe that the repeated imagery of racial violence has contributed more to the historical canon of images of violence that memorialize a harmful history of documenting Black death. In all, images of brutality, murder, and injustice trigger only a temporary shift in priorities. In fact, we have found ways to make engagement with these issues more convenient — simply re-sharing a post, adding a resource to your social media page, or sending a pre-written email to your Congressman. But, ultimately this has not moved the needle. | | | | |
<
< |
And yet the video of the police beating Rodney King were not "undeniable," because the jury acquitted.
It would follow then that bearing witness to injustice presents a unique challenge to respond and engage. Yet, we are trapped in a cycle which has provided no relief to the systemic effects of racial violence and discrimination in our country.
The Pitfall of Subjectivity
One plausible explanation for this cycle is the subjective nature of images themselves. The obvious and blatant racist exercise of violence at the hands of police seemed to be an objective fact. However, I discounted the influence of our subjective view on images even outside of the artistic canon. Any benefit provided by visual proof is negated significantly by the effects of prejudice and bias that we contribute to their evaluation. This was exemplified in the 2007 case of Scott v. Harris, where a question of Summary Judgment was framed significantly around an exercise of visual analysis. The image in question there, a police chase video resulting in the severe injury of Victor Harris, was treated as an objective fact, thereby allowing the court to privilege its own view. By contrast, scholars have considered that various citizens would have viewed the facts differently as a result of shared backgrounds and experiences. Harris demonstrates that as much as visual proof suggests the holy grail in ameliorating racial injustice, we must address the flaw not only of subjectivity but the pervasive issue of bias before we can consider images as tools of fact. Ultimately, the homogenous nature of our legal system seeks to diminish any progress that the documentation of the reality of racism offers by privileging a lens that excludes the lived experiences of those who bear the brunt of injustice.
How We Value Time
Another possible explanation for the failure to implement actionable change in the wake of these images has to do with the value of time. Images of brutality, murder, and injustice trigger a temporary shift in priorities and encourage viewers to engage, process, and respond. Therefore, images maintain a power not only to document but to also magnify the distinct barriers faced by Black Americans, amplifying the gravity of an otherwise momentary experience.
Ultimately, however, our relationship to time in our daily life explains the inevitable lull in momentum and return to the cycle of complacency. Time is finite and therefore each minute is valuable. One need only to look at the legal field, where lawyers place a premium on the medium of time (an average of $728 per hour). Our daily lives are riddled with competing priorities and tasks demanding our attention. Therefore, it follows that we have found ways to make engagement with these issues more convenient; simply re-sharing a post, adding a resource to your social media page, or sending a pre-written email to your Congressman. While there are of course benefits to increasing the accessibility of information and resources to be educated on these issues, the temptation of passive and performative activism is all too high. A video lasting an excruciating eight-minute and 46 seconds, therefore, loses significance in the grand scheme of 1440 minutes per day.
What Needs to Change
In all, as much as images seemed to emerge as a powerful tool in the so-called "Year of Racial Reckoning" the incorporation of visual analysis into a legal context is not immune to the greater problems of the legal system. So long as the individuals who are most harmed by racism are not represented by those who hold the power to institute actionable change, the same cycle can persist.
If this is primarily an essay about the social effects of photographs, it would improve the next draft to put it in touch with some of the not-insubstantial literature on the subject. I think I might want to start with Susan Sontag. If, on the other hand, this is primarily about the history of civil rights struggle since 1960, I think it would be good to use the historical literature to gain context about, for example, the King riots and the passage of the Voting Rights Act. If the current "Subjectivity" and "Time" discussions are not digressions, then the subject seems to be less how power is distributed in society than how mass attention is paid, which would require a tighter connection between the ebb and flow of individual attention and the political effect of social unrest than this draft presents. Tighter focus and more use of other sources to learn from look like the right path to improvement in any event.
| >
> | In conclusion, I believe that photographs of Black figures hold the most power as a tool to uplift images of Black experiences in the context of joy, success, and diversity of experience. However, I believe that we should reject images of violence against the Black body as an instrument of progress. So long as the audience consists of those who are “enthralled by the spectacle of Black death” or even those who are ambivalent to the visualization of racial violence, the harms of engaging with images of violence against the Black body are significantly greater than any potential benefit. | | |
You are entitled to restrict access to your paper if you want to. But we all derive immense benefit from reading one another's work, and I hope you won't feel the need unless the subject matter is personal and its disclosure would be harmful or undesirable. |
|