9 December 2024
Today we bring you an image from RIELA Affiliate Artist Pieter van der Houwen's new photography book The Complicit Camera. This book offers the reader a unique insight into the mechanisms of the media industry. Focusing on thirty-three of his own photographs, Pieter provides us with a personal account of how his “African” images were often framed to fit an existing European narrative. He is brutally honest about his own culpability; however, he cannot stress enough that this book should not be regarded as an apology. The Complicit Camera should be seen as a personal reflection on his work and how it interacted with the media industry.
If you would like to hear more about the book, there is still time to register for the launch event which is taking place tomorrow (10 December) from 4:30-6:00pm at the University of Glasgow Adam Smith Building, 2 Discovery Place, G11 6EY in room 383. Sign up for free to secure your place!
Former child soldier Watanga Football association. Monrovia Liberia
Recently released: The Complicit Camera (ZAM Magazine, 2024)
As soon as a photograph enters the public domain, the original intentions of its maker seem to disappear from sight. This creates an image economy, more than an image culture. And that culture is still dominated by white, Western perceptions.
