Can a Photograph Change the World?

Undergraduate / Graduate

Can a single lens-based image change the course of history? This course traces iconic photographs from across the documentary tradition to examine their formal character, circulation, and social impact. In our approach to this question, we will explore traditional frameworks for discussing documentary truth and ethics in photojournalism, but we will also consciously set aside those concerns to consider the influence of images in the public sphere regardless of their integrity as photographs. At stake in this reframing is how photographs function in the "post-truth" era. Course sessions will be based around individual case studies of iconic and "viral" images.