Returning the gaze

By Abhinandita Mathur


The arrest of Sharbat Gula, the green-eyed girl who became the `face of the Afghan conflict', has brought to the forefront the genre of the iconic image. But has the currency of the iconic image devalued in the era of social networking?



Photographer Steve McCurry's striking portrait of a green-eyed young girl from Afghanistan first appeared on the cover of National Geographic in 1984. The Afghan Girl's gaze captivated the popular imagination and conscience of a world far removed from her own. The face that became one of the most recognised symbols of human struggle generated intrigue and curiosity, but remained anonymous. Two decades later, accompanied by a film crew from National Geographic, McCurry returned to Afghanistan to find the subject of his most recognised photograph. The search was successful and new images appeared again on the National Geographic cover, this time accompanied by a documentary on the `search'. Now we knew her name.Sharbat Gula in 2002 was a mother of three daughters, living in Afghanistan. Last week, her photographer posted another photo of her on social media along with news about her arrest by FIA authorities. Gula is accused of allegedly living in Pakistan using forged documents. Besides bringing forth the stories of socio-political struggles in the region through the case of Sharbat Gula, the incident brings our attention to photojournalism and the burdens it entails (societal, representational, ethical) for photographers.

Our reading of the world around us is mediated by images. Honest and solid photojournalism has been a catalyst for social and political change. Documentary photography, photojournalism and reportage play a critical role in highlighting seen and unseen human struggles. At a time when billions of images are circulated and shared every day, what is the place for serious reportage images? Do photojournalists (at times risking their own lives) question the impact of their work? What is the quest of a photojournalist in capturing and telling an important story to the world?





Do they challenge modes of representation and dissemination? In other words, what would be a photographer's strategy in making impactful images of human suffering, war and conflicts of our times.
Tim Marshall, award-winning war correspondent and author of Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics, does not think the fun damentals of the job have changed.“You try to capture what is going on in as ethical, honourable a manner as possible and then show it as truthfully as you can without endangering the subject. Technology has changed but not ethics. There is no excuse for staging pictures, and in my experience there is no need to -life is interesting enough, especially in conflict zones.“

That said, questions of representation and ethics in photojournalism have remained pertinent and unresolved. What is iconic and hard-hitting in one context may entirely lose meaning in another. Independent photographer and Ishan Tankha, formerly photo-editor of Tehelka and Open, feels “the essential role of conflict reportage is to engage viewers whose own lives may not be directly affected, even if just to start a conversation and in the rare cases be powerful enough to effect change at a social and eventually political level“.

In these times of continuous conflict and violence, the scope of reportage goes beyond creating `iconic' images of war or disastrous events. Tankha urges us to examine the nature of violence itself and how that could shape photographic representation. “Conflict isn't limited to just those moments of violence at play or for that matter in its immediate aftermath. Real violence is in no hurry, it takes its time. As photographers working in these spaces, we need to be able to see past the weapons and blood to arrive at stories that possibly connect to a viewer at a more personal level.“




Photojournalist Arko Datta, recipient of several awards, photographed the 2002 Gujarat riots.One of his photographs of Qutubuddin Ansari pleading for his life effectively captured the life-threatening horror faced by riot victims. The photograph became a defining image of the Gujarat carnage. But for Datta, making an `iconic' photo was neither the purpose nor an achievement. For him, more than the awards and recognition, the achievement of his photographs from that time lie in the fact that they are being produced in court cases as evidence. “For me, photojournalism is all about ethics and credibility. This photograph will send the perpetrators to jail. They have been trying to prove the image is fake or manipulated but they can't. It was shot with honesty and that is the achievement of this photograph.“ Datta strongly condemns unethical practices in reportage. “I feel manipulating and misrepresenting facts in anyway by photojournalists should be considered a criminal offence.“ Datta believes there is no room for being artistic in photojournalism. “Our job is to present facts. I am a messenger, bringing forth important stories to the public with responsibility. I would not even confuse myself to be a social worker. My job is to simply document what I see with utmost honesty.“

Photojournalist and editor Paroma Mukherjee, an independent photographer and former photo editor at Blouin ArtInfo Monthly International and Time Out Delhi, feels representation is critical and it is the intent of the photographer that contributes to the impact. The Afghan Girl portrait for her is problematic. “Its impact has unfortunately become a standard for a kind of trivial, representative portraiture, that is a perfect example of the Orientalist gaze, which fetishises the idea of adventure and exploration by representing tribes and nomads under the garb of migrant studies. In its role as a driver of change, conflict photography needs practitioners who understand not just the medium, but also the political and social impact of the story.“





While the photographer is certainly responsible for making an ethical photograph, its impact depends on other factors, argues Tim Marshall, who believes that the onus of the impact does not rely on the photographer as a photograph can only do so much. “As for questioning the impact of your work -you are there to tell a story, not to change the world. It's up to the readerviewer what they do with the material you show them. Did the iconic pictures of WW1, the `War to End all War' end war? Did the terrible images of the violence of partition in 1947 put an end to sectarian violence in the subcontinent? The answer is obviously in the negative. However, that is not to argue that there was no point in telling those stories. One picture might change one person's mind and make them work for peace. If so --it's something.“

The struggle of photojournalism today is not only in the making of the images but also in how and where we see them. Dhruba Dutta, an independent documentary photographer who has been working on long-term projects in Assam, explains, “We all know that people are documenting every little aspects of their lives more and more with photography nowadays. And dissemination also has grown exponentially due to social media. But the real problem, I feel, is that good documentary photography is getting lost in the chaos of extremely ordinary works. As a result, a good photograph or photographic body of work has lost its value somewhat“. When hard hitting images of war or death compete with happier images of consumption and culture, it is natural for a viewer to choose the latter. Abhimanyu Sharma, an IT professional based in Gurgaon, spends a lot of time on the internet reading blogs and Facebooking. Sharma shares his preference from his Facebook feed. “I like to read interesting things but avoid hardcore violent stuff. We have enough stress of our own. In the middle of a working day, I am looking for relief from my own problems. I don't mind looking at serious content about selfhelp or politics at times.“ Sharma confesses he does look at stories about crime but not “war and all“.“What can I do about something happening in Syria?“ he asks. “There is so much going on everywhere“.





Shivani Parasher, a development professional from Delhi, who keenly follows current affairs and international news, shares her experience of viewing hard-hitting images. “They leave me heartbroken.“ An image that particularly disturbed her was that of the teenage cousins in Uttar Pradesh hanging from the tree (2014Kuldeep Sharma). “It brought out the stark brutality of people that still exists and the complacency with which society takes such crimes against humanity. It was difficult to unsee.“

Parasher also points out how she does not easily come across serious photo essays and stories in local media. “I mostly come across photo essays from conflict areas in foreign publications or the internet, while researching a particular event in history or issues. We see a lot of visual content, but not enough conflict reportage, I feel.“

As photographers continue to grapple with their dilemmas, and media houses find solutions to bring such stories to public view, as viewers we do our bit too, before turning to the next story or scandal. But in doing so, perhaps let's spend an extra moment truly looking at these photos with a more sensitised filter so that these images of very real people and their very real struggles, which are meant to speak a thousand words, do not fall on deaf ears.


Abhinandita Mathur is editor of New Vision, an online journal on visual storytelling