Ian MacLellan

I have been thinking a lot recently about the power of photographic essays to create change and influence the way the viewer thinks about the world. I think the power of photography now is to show people something they have never seen before and then allowing the viewer to make decisions on how they interact with the world based off of that. These two quotes, one from Edward Burtynsky and the other from Susan Meiselas, both expand on the photographer’s personal journeys to create meaningful photographic works that impact society.

This quote is from the end of Burtynsky’s movie Manufactured Landscapes:

“There are times when I have thought about my work and putting it into a more politicized environment. If I said this is a terrible thing we are doing to the planet, then people will either agree or disagree. By not saying what you should see, that may allow them to look at something that they had never looked at and to see the world a little differently. So I think man people today sit in that uncomfortable spot where we don’t necessarily want to give up what we have, but they realize what we are doing is creating problems that run deep. It is not a simple right or wrong; it needs a whole new way of thinking.” – Edward Burtynsky Manufactured Landscapes.

This next quote is from a video about curating the Open Society Institute’s Moving Walls Exhibit. View the video here.

“… There is the reality that we are all the more linked globally and we have to know about each other and photography gives us that opportunity…

“I don’t go into the field as an advocate, I go into the field to make a discovery. I don’t start with a mission, I start with what is going on, the questions: What is going on? What can I see? What can I show? Conveying this through the photographs. Then it is with whom I partner, if that seems appropriate for that work to have an additional life, which could be a life of advocacy or a life tied to an issue targeted in a very particular way whether to policymakers or to the public. You have to keep documenting at the same time, asking those questions and seeking as I said really opportunities to create possibilities for engagement.

“That’s where the understanding is key. If we are going to be able to build bridges, and I do think photography is all about creating the bridge people still have to walk over it. I think photographers are the people who perceive the bridge as a possibility and that goes back to the hope that people will feel the connection and that connectivity is the opening of the door.” – Susan Meiselas OSI Moving Walls Curator Expanding the Circle: The Engaged Phtoographer