Images of protest have a visceral power to grab our attention. Colin Leach has been studying how we react to different kinds of protest images. For example, an image of many police holding down one protester and an image of many protesters facing off against a few police convey very different messages about who has the power. Both protesters and police have an agenda for how they want to be represented, and this is as old as photography itself. But online news and social media bombard us with more protest images than ever before, so it’s more important than ever to understand their visceral power.
Bonus clip
Further reading
The Movement for Black Lives
Love is the message, the message is death – a short film by Arthur Jafa
Brit Dawson at Dazed – How to spot misinformation amid the Black Lives Matter protests
Rashaan Ayesh and Sarah Grillo at Axios – In photos: We’ve seen images like the protests in Minneapolis before
Matthew Legge at Psychology Today – The Psychology That Explains Your Reaction to Mass Protests
Maurice Berger at New York Times – Dr. King’s Complex Relationship With the Camera
Jay Stanley at ACLU Blog – Suppression of Photographers During Civil Rights Movement an Important Reminder for Today
Catherine Caruso at The Brink – Count Love Project Reveals Protest Patterns