Antifotoperiodismo: An exhibition that casts doubt on photojournalism

Photojournalism is widely used worldwide by different agencies and media sources that purport to show, through photographs, life situations ranging from drug trafficking to what happened at political demonstrations and in the public sphere.

Now in the “Centre de la Imatge” in Barcelona, an exhibition entitled Antifotoperiodismo is on display. The exhibit will try to show that we have too much faith in this practice and challenges the notion that we always show the truth in these photojournalistic stories.

Work from 27 authors will be presented in different categories, and all at some point in their career have criticized this practice through their work. The oldest series of photos belongs to Paul Fusco. His project began in 1968 and is based on nearly 2000 original slides showing the path made by the train that carried Robert Kennedy’s coffin from New York to Washington. The funny thing is that at no time was the coffin or the funeral shown, just the crowd of people located at the station.

The exhibition can be enjoyed until 10 October, when the exhibit will close with a screening of the film Episode 3 by the director Martens. There will also be a conversation with him in addition to the conference “Acts of state: a photographic history of the Israeli occupation,” by Ariella Azoulay.

One of the most anticipated series called Basque Chronicles is by the Pamplona photographer Clemente Bernad. It has aroused much controversy. It shows a picture of a press conference presented a medical team that shows x-rays of the head of Miguel Angel Blanco, killed by ETA in 1997, although his family had forbidden the display of the photos because they said they showed a biased view of the problem.

You can rent apartments in Barcelona to visit the exhibition and enjoy examining how photojournalism acts as a filter of the world we live in.

Tags: Antifotoperiodismo, Antifotoperiodismo exhibit, exhibit phot-journalism, image, manipulation