![]() ![]() In spite of the camera’s initial ghostly dehumanization of the human body, we found that it offered us a very powerful tool to communicate the painful journeys of refugees, in new and unfamiliar ways that are often tender, intimate or vulnerable. This is what art is all about, and what it does strongest. Indeed, that feeling of ethical violation has the potential to activate the viewer, to push them into a space where they are no longer simply consuming imagery, but where they are consciously and cautiously engaging with the work and its meaning, while checking themselves, their baggage and reflexes. Imaging the refugee crisis in such a way may feel unethical – discomfiting or upsetting the viewer – but it is not. This is a work about the refugee crisis which was made with a military tool designed specifically for battlefield awareness and extreme long range threat detection and border surveillance at a moment in history when, for example, Frauke Petry, the chairwoman of the German extreme-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD), has said that police should shoot migrants at the borders, trying to enter their country illegally. That’s especially the case with the technology that I chose to work with to make Incoming, which is not generally available for consumer or professional use, and has been developed and produced by a multinational defence and security company that also produces cruise missiles, drones and other technologies. Richard Mosse: There is the spectre of violence in all forms of photography, not simply within the echo of the word shooting, but in the history of photography too, most of which has evolved directly out of military research. Can you tell me how you approached the ethics of this work while shooting and afterwards, when presenting the work? Photoworks: There is the spectre of violence in using this weapons-grade camera to photograph refugees and migrants, unknowingly and from a distance, as they make their journey to safety. Richard Mosse talks about his latest project, Incoming, which uses a weapons-grade camera to photograph refugees and migrants as they journey across the Middle East, North Africa and Europe. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |