‘Insider, Outsider?’ – Important Question
Written by duckrabbit
Insider, Outsider?’ looks like a very interesting exhibition opening at The Guardian tonight (we’ll be popping down) for which the irrepressible photographer and exhibition curator Marcia Chandra sent me these words (my bold):
‘Insider, Outsider? Photography that challenges perceptions of the developing world’ is an exhibition by the Majority World Photo Agency in collaboration with The Guardian. It features 17 of the agency’s photographers from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.
Majority World is a unique social enterprise that is owned and operated from the developing world (what we call the ‘majority world’) and is committed to working with agencies, collectives and photographers that are from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Our contention is that photographers in the majority world do not lack in talent, they lack in opportunities to contribute their diverse voices to the global visual identity.
The intent of this exhibition is to showcase some of talented photographers we represent that are producing in-depth and intimate stories where they live and work. We want to challenge the idea that you need to travel to exotic places to find good stories. We want to show that photographers that are ‘on the inside’ are able to expand our image of what the developing world looks like, contributing untold stories, and gaining intimate access through shared knowledge and culture. And we want to challenge the editorial market to consider working with these talented local photographers rather than send ‘Western’ photographers to shoot good stories in the developing world.
The title of the exhibition itself is meant to create debate. The photographers we represent are insiders in their home countries, but are generally outsiders to the global picture buying industry. They may be insiders in terms of culture, but as photographers they can still be outsiders to the stories they observe and share. Some of the stories may not be new but the way they are told will be–such as Fabrice Monteiro’s contemporary portraits highlighting the West Indies slave trade or Farzana Hossen’s positive story of a blind family. Some of the stories give you an image of the majority world you don’t often see–Anisul Hoque’s story of an upper class family in Bangladesh or Neo Ntsoma’s images of the Kwaito youth culture in South Africa. And yet other stories highlight what gets ignored due to the media’s focus on conflict–Samar Hazboun’s work with victims of gender violence in Palestine and Kishor Sharma’s beautiful images of the last nomadic community in Nepal.Though it is a small sample of the photographers we are engaging with, we hope people will visit the exhibition or our website and engage with us in this discussion and our mission. Our private view is tonight and we invite you to come along and have a drink with us. RSVP to info@majorityworld.com.
DETAILS
Insider, Outsider? Photography that challenges perceptions of the developing world
3-22 July 2012
Daily 10am-6pm (free admission)
Guardian Gallery, Kings Place, London N1 9GUPrivate View – Thursday July 12 from 7 to 9 pm. Please RSVP to info@majorityworld.com
FACEBOOK EVENT: www.facebook.com/events/378926078834743/‘Insider, Outsider?’ is Majority World’s first UK exhibition featuring 17 photographers from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East sharing critical, thoughtful and intimate stories close to home.
Photographers featured:
A. M. Ahad, BangladeshAaron Sosa, Panama / VenezuelaAdolphus Opara, NigeriaAndrés Lofiego, ArgentinaAndrew Esiebo, NigeriaDaniel Patiño Flor, EcuadorDominic Sansoni, Sri LankaFabrice Monteiro, BeninFarzana Hossen, BangladeshKishor Sharma, NepalMàrio Macilau, MozambiqueM. Anisul Hoque, BangladeshNeo Ntsoma, South AfricaSamar Hazboun, PalestineShadi Ghadirian, IranShankar Sarkar, IndiaTammy David, Philippines
Discussion (1 Comment)
Kudos to Marcia and her team at Majority World. indeed a great initiative opening up windows to the Northern Hemisphere!