Photography and Human Rights

There are many reasons why people love photography. May it be for the love of the great out door, preserving memories, testing one's skills in mastering the machine, love of artistic renditions, making a living and many more. But when Eduardo Gonzales-Cueva from Peru taught a summer course called "Photography and Human Rights: Advocacy, Technique and Aesthetics" at Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, he asked his students to take it seriously the role photography plays in promoting human rights.

Eduardo is a Peruvian sociologist, he leads the International Center for Transitional Justice work supporting the establishment of truth commissions and memorials around the world. A published poet and art critic, he publishes a Spanish-language blog "La Torre de Marfil." The following is a portion of the course description he taught:

"Photography, like the notion of human rights, is fundamentally modern and - also like human rights - conceptually problematic, tense with contraditions about agency, context and authenticity. Documentary photographers willing to use their skills for the advancement of right must continually question themselves: Is photographer a silent witness or an active agent, a militant? Is there a pact, an expectation, or even an authorization between photographers and victims of human rights? And effective in terms of ensuring the promotion and protection of human rights? The sessions will combine a discussion of concepts with the critique of concrete experiences concerning the interaction of photography and human rights advocacy: images that have served as denunciation, evidence or icon."

I find this description intriguing. Like theology and the mission of teaching, photography is deeply an interpretive work. The common ground between photography and teaching includes the ability to provoke, inspire, and to present alternative views. I find it fascinating to consider photography as educator, social change agent, and even a theologian. This relationship will keep me thinking for a while.