Open Rooms #8: Photography and Racialisation
Photography is not innocent. The medium has played a significant role in maintaining a visual culture and hierarchy with its roots in colonialism, one in which racial ‘whiteness’ is synonymous with ‘normal’ and desirable. This can be seen and understood in the various practices and technologies of photography.
Yasmin Gunaratnam, Ali Eisa and Daniel C. Blight seek to examine the role photography plays in the ongoing racialisation of people, in the UK and worldwide. The conversation revolves around an image submitted by each participant, with an accompanying question.
Yasmin Gunaratnam asks “How heavy is whiteness?” Ali Eisa asks “In making images, how do we make ourselves?” Daniel C. Blight asks, “How do white people see?” Using these three questions as entry points, they seek to uncover the visual architecture of whiteness, and offer ways to unpick and subvert the racialising production and circulation of images.
Daniel C. Blight is the author of ‘The Image of Whiteness: Contemporary Photography and Racialization’. He teaches at the University of Brighton.
Yasmin Gunaratnam is a reader in sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her most recent book is ‘Go Home?’ The Politics of Immigration Controversies’.
Ali Eisa is an artist and educator working at Autograph, where he manages the Learning & Participation programme. Ali is a visual artist who exhibits nationally and internationally, and has a background in social circus, youth arts and youth work.
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Open Rooms is Open Eye Gallery’s online programme. It involves free live-streamed talks and workshops, plus ongoing public discussions on our Discord community. It takes place in rooms all across the world — artists’ rooms, chat rooms and in your living room.
Open Rooms is livestreamed to our Twitch channel, an online streaming service.
We also have a community of chat rooms and ongoing conversations on Discord, a free messaging app open to all. To join, follow this link and download Discord on desktop or mobile.
Photography is not innocent. The medium has played a significant role in maintaining a visual culture and hierarchy with its roots in colonialism, one in which racial ‘whiteness’ is synonymous with ‘normal’ and desirable. This can be seen and understood in the various practices and technologies of photography.
Yasmin Gunaratnam, Ali Eisa and Daniel C. Blight seek to examine the role photography plays in the ongoing racialisation of people, in the UK and worldwide. The conversation revolves around an image submitted by each participant, with an accompanying question.
Yasmin Gunaratnam asks “How heavy is whiteness?” Ali Eisa asks “In making images, how do we make ourselves?” Daniel C. Blight asks, “How do white people see?” Using these three questions as entry points, they seek to uncover the visual architecture of whiteness, and offer ways to unpick and subvert the racialising production and circulation of images.
Daniel C. Blight is the author of ‘The Image of Whiteness: Contemporary Photography and Racialization’. He teaches at the University of Brighton.
Yasmin Gunaratnam is a reader in sociology at Goldsmiths, University of London. Her most recent book is ‘Go Home?’ The Politics of Immigration Controversies’.
Ali Eisa is an artist and educator working at Autograph, where he manages the Learning & Participation programme. Ali is a visual artist who exhibits nationally and internationally, and has a background in social circus, youth arts and youth work.
–
Open Rooms is Open Eye Gallery’s online programme. It involves free live-streamed talks and workshops, plus ongoing public discussions on our Discord community. It takes place in rooms all across the world — artists’ rooms, chat rooms and in your living room.
Open Rooms is livestreamed to our Twitch channel, an online streaming service.
We also have a community of chat rooms and ongoing conversations on Discord, a free messaging app open to all. To join, follow this link and download Discord on desktop or mobile.
