Ethics of Documentary Photography: Amber Collective

19th of March

2pm

ONLINE

We will be joined by Amber Collective members to discuss our approach to ethical image making, ongoing consent and discussions around the context in which images should be shared. We will talk about how we protect the integrity of the agreement between photographers and the person sharing their story as an archive and gallery. 

This will be explored through the lens of Sirkka-Lissa Konttinen. She will be discussing her work through her 50 year career – focusing first on street photography then moving to negotiated image making. She will be drawing from her projects Writing in the Sand, Step by Step, Byker and Byker Revisited. She will be sharing stories and images that reflect the rich connections she maintains both with the people within the image and the wider communities that are represented.

This is the first in three events discussing the ethics of documentary photography.

ETHICS OF DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY

When making, collecting and sharing documentary photographs there are many ethical concerns. 

Who are images made with, for and about?

How can the context of the photograph be retained?

As an organisation, AmberSide is committed to making, nurturing, exhibiting and collecting long term projects that reflect the complexity of the story and contexts. We strive to invite people represented in the images to become participants in the storytelling – it is their story, and theirs to tell. We are committed to informed, ongoing consent knowing each participant in an image has placed trust in us and can remove their consent at any time. The conversations don’t end when the shutter snaps shut. 

In the age of social media, disconnected images saturate our methods of understanding the world and communicating to each other. How do we maintain the integrity of our work into the future? We are committed to asking difficult questions of ourselves and our field.

Join us to discuss these critical issues across three events in March/April 2021. We will address these questions firstly as the Amber Collective, secondly through the voices of active photographers and lastly in the context of galleries and archives. Each event will invite dialogue between our panellists and the wider public.  We hope you can join the conversation.