Susan Meiselas: «We, as photographers are both present and absent»

The meeting gave rise to an enriching discussion on journalism and photography. In connection with this, Dr. Miguel Franquet, professor of our School, specialist in ethics and photojournalism, shares the following comment:

From the very interesting lecture given by Susan Meiselas at the School on her vast work (over 40 years worth), she highlighted the constant references that the American photographer made to the plurality of senses that her photographs have acquired over time, and which results in different uses and contexts of their exposure.

Illustrative of this relationship between use and meaning is her photograph of Pablo «Bareta» Arauz, the «Molotov man», who became iconic of the popular Sandinista revolution of the 70s and 80s in Nicaragua. Echoing some of Ariella Azoulay's thesis in The Civil Contract of Photography, Susan Meiselas stressed that photographs should not be considered as the exclusive property of the photographer, so their use should be offered as a possibility to the community and, in particular , the people photographed, so that they can help build a more comprehensive historical account and thus contribute to transform the world in the sense of justice.

In the picture, professor Sandra Balsells, Meiselas and director of Journalism and Corporative Communication, Marçal Sintes.

We invite you to enjoy the interview that she offered us just before her conference: