Durham E-Theses Representing the MAJORITY WORLD famine, photojournalism and the Changing Visual Economy CLARK, DAVID,JAMES How to cite: CLARK, DAVID,JAMES (2009) Representing the MAJORITY WORLD famine, photojournalism and the Changing Visual Economy , Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/136/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 1 Contents 1. Abstract 2. Table of Contents 3. Introduction 4. Chapter 1: ‘Me, Me, Me’: Selfish, Dark and Imagined Visual Geographies 5. Chapter 2: The Photograph, Photojournalism and Geopolitics 6. Chapter 3: Digitised Image Markets and the Politics of Place 7. Chapter 4: Photographing Famine 8. Conclusion: The NGO Responds 9. Bibliography Cover Picture: Malike, Moma, and Leila having fun in Mali, West Africa. Years of drought and inter-community conflict have made life extremely hard for the communities here but they have persevered and are now growing food and finding ways to earn a living. Kassambere village, Borem District, Mali, November 2005. Image: D J Clark. 2 ABSTRACT Our knowledge of the world is mediated. This means knowledge depends on representations provided to us from a variety of sources. However, we should not limit representation to a concern with language, or suggest that representations produce fictions unconnected to the real world. To avoid these problems we need to understand mediated knowledge and representation in terms of discourse. This thesis examines aspects of a particular discourse, the visual discourse of photojournalism, and explores its role in constructing the imagined geography of Africa. This thesis investigates how photographic illustrations of Africa play a role in constructing knowledge of the continent for mainstream UK audiences. It undertakes this in terms of the ‘Minority World’ and the ‘Majority World’ in order to challenge the assumptions of superiority and inferiority associated with traditional representations of ‘First World/Third World’ or ‘developed/underdeveloped’. Central to the discussion is the notion of a specific photographic point of view based on the author’s background as a Minority World photographer who has undertaken extensive work in the Majority World. The thesis considers how historical photographic representations of African countries that are beyond the personal experience of UK mainstream audiences, and the formation of key compositions in a particular style to represent famine, were repeated through the last century and how these compositions relate to current public understandings of the Majority World as a particular place. Through this discussion the thesis critically analyses public consumption of such images and argues the construction of key events (disasters, famines, etc.) are central to the imaginary construction of the continent of Africa. It argues that colonial relations of power and knowledge, and the production of ‘otherness’ continue to influence contemporary images of the Majority World. Taking the1984-5 Ethiopian famine as a key event in the formation of geographic visualisations of the African continent, the thesis both considers this event in detail and traces its influence to the formation of contemporary photographic illustrations. Through critical discourse analysis, extensive interviews with photographers, fieldwork, and surveys the thesis examines contemporary photojournalistic coverage of a single event and how it affects UK public understandings of Africa. The photojournalistic representations of famine in Africa are then considered in terms of the rapidly changing global image economy (in which the move to digital production and distribution is transforming photographic practice), the rise of local photographers, and the influence of the visual discourses on economic stability and growth of the communities in which their subjects live. These arguments come together in the 2003 case of photographic reports from Bob Geldof’s return to Ethiopia during another purported food crisis. The thesis asks if the changes in the image economy and recent examples of new photographic practice, especially that which follows the codes of conduct for imagery put in place after the Ethiopian famine of 1984-5, demonstrate the potential for changing the way ‘Africa’ is constructed as an imagined geography for UK publics, and, if so, how? It grounds the argument in an extended conclusion, which examines the assignment the author carried out in Mali in November 2005 in conjunction with Oxfam GB. This photographic commission demonstrated the difficulty of finding an alternative visualisation of food insecurity (famine) that meets the demands of non-government organisations’ (NGOs) ethical picture policies yet satisfies the requirements of mainstream media in the UK. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Ch Content Page PREFACE & ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ………………………………….. 7 Referencing …………………………………………………………………. 8 Gender-Specific Pronouns ………………………………………………… 9 INTRODUCTION …………………………………………………………… 10 1. LOCATING THE RESEARCH …………………………………………. 12 News Discourse …………………………………………………………. 12 ♦ News Values ……………………………………………………. 14 ♦ The Development of the UK Newspaper ……………………. 14 ♦ Pictures in the News ……. ……………………………………. 15 Imagined Geographies …………………………………………………. 16 Audiences ……………………………………………………………….. 18 2. METHODOLOGY ……………………………………………………….. 21 Point of View ……………………………………………………………. 21 Analysis …………………………………………………………………. 22 ♦ Library Based Research ………………………………………. 22 ♦ News Framing and Content Analysis ………………………… 23 ♦ Photographers’ Biographies ………………………………….. 25 ♦ Surveys …………………………………………………………. 25 ♦ Case Studies …………………………………………………… 26 ♦ Interviews ……………………………………………………….. 26 ♦ Original Practice ………………………………………………… 28 3. ORGANISATION OF THE THESIS ……………………………………. 28 1 ‘ME, ME, ME’- SELFISH, DARK AND IMAGINED VISUAL 32 GEOGRAPHIES ……………………………………………………………. 1. GEOGRAPHIES OF DEATH AND DISASTER ………………………. 33 Representations of the Majority World in Minority World Media ….. 33 ♦ Reports ………………………………………………………….. 34 ♦ Location …………………………………………………………. 35 ♦ Politics, Culture and Finance …………………………………. 35 ♦ The Event ……………………………………………………….. 37 The Impact of Media Representations of Africa on UK Publics …… 38 ♦ Reports ………………………………………………………….. 38 ♦ The Majority World Looks Back ………………………………. 39 ♦ Other Factors …………………………………………………… 40 Summary ……………………………………………………………….. 40 2. HISTORIES OF INFERIORITY AND ‘THE DARK CONTINENT’ ….. 41 Photography and Empire ……………………………………………… 42 ♦ Tourism …………………………………………………………. 42 ♦ National Identity & Collecting Dislocated Geographies ……. 43 ♦ Military Conquest ………………………………………………. 45 ♦ Science and Anthropology ……………………………………. 46 The Construction of Others …………………………………………… 48 ♦ Other Others ……………………………………………………. 49 4 ♦ National Geographic and the Business of Imagined 50 Geography ………………………………………………………. The Dark Continent …………………………………………………..... 54 ♦ The Belgium Congo ……………………………………………. 55 ♦ Joseph Conrad’s Representation of the Congo Under 57 Leopold II ……………………………………………………….. ♦ One Hundred Years of Darkness …………………………….. 59 Summary ……………………………………………………………… 62 3. PICTURES FOR CHANGE: HOW AN IMAGE CAN MAKE A 63 DIFFERENCE ……………………………………………………………… Politicians, Votes and the Imagined Need …………………………… 63 Developing Tourism in a Landscape of Famine …………………….. 64 Visualising Investments ………………………………………………… 66 Summary …………………………………………………………………. 67 CHAPTER CONCLUSION ………………………………………………… 67 2 THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE PHOTOGRAPH ………………….. 69 1. THE PLACE OF THE SINGLE IMAGE IN THE CONTEMPORARY 70 UK MEDIA LANDSCAPE ………………………………………………….. The Move to Video ………………………………………………………. 72 The Descriptor and the Stopper ……………………………………….. 75 Context and Narrative …………………………………………………… 77 Documentary as Art - The Move to the Gallery ………………………. 77 Summary …………………………………………………………………. 82 2. BEAUTY, MISERY AND TRUTH CLAIMS ……………………………. 82 ‘Beauty is Truth’ ………………………………………………………….. 82 Salgado, Pellegrin and Photo Humanism …………………………….. 85 Aesthetics, Power and Truth …………………………………………… 87 Interlude: Women and Children ……………………………………….. 89 Summary …………………………………………………………………. 91 3. THE GREAT MISMATCH: PHOTOGRAPHY, REWARD AND 92 RESPONSIBILITY ………………………………………………………….. Photographer as Agent of Change …………………………………….. 93 The Photographer’s Dilemma ………………………………………….. 96 Summary …………………………………………………………………. 99 CHAPTER CONCLUSION ………………………………………………… 99 3 DIGITISED IMAGE MARKETS AND THE POLITICS OF PLACE …… 100 1. A NEW GLOBAL IMAGE ECONOMY ………………………………… 101 The Early 1990’s ………………………………………………………… 101 New Technologies, Gates and Getty …………………………………. 102 Benefits to the Majority World Photographer ………………………… 107 The Move to Video 2 ………………………………………………….… 107 Summary …………………………………………………………………. 108 2. MANIPULATION AND THE INDIGENOUS VOICE ……................... 108 The Manipulators ………………………………………………………… 108 The ‘Western Eye’ ……………………………………………………….