Photography & Politics From the Civil War Until Now - HIST 3559 June 12-14, 2016 We often think about the ways that photography has documented political events -- from wars and revolutions to elections and parades. We much less often think about how photography has transformed politics by informing people about critical issues, alerting them to crises, and changing the ways that they understand the world around them. In Photography and Politics, our concern will be with photographs that were active participants in the political arena. Some supported those already in power. Others pressed for social reform. Occasionally, photographs were weapons in the service of radical change. There are many examples of each of these approaches -- photographs celebrated the Nazis on the eve of World War II, campaigned against the abuse of child laborers in the early twentieth century, and helped to bring down dictators during the Arab Spring. Most of these photographers who produced these images were professionals. More recently social media and camera phones have opened the door to participation by almost anyone. Students will look at a wide variety of politically engaged photography, from the American Civil War until the present. They will also read commentaries on this photography and accounts by the photographers themselves. They will collaborate with each other on short documentary projects, using camera phones and social media as their tools. Finally, students will visit exhibitions at Look3, Charlottesville's prestigious photography festival, which will coincide with the class, and meet some of the participating photographers. Instructor: John Mason, Associate Professor Department of History
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