Photography as Activism

This fully revised and updated second edition of Photography as Activism is both a study of activist photography, and a call to action. It offers students and documentary photographers insights into the theory, history, philosophy, and practice of photography as activism. 

The book is lavishly illustrated with 85 key historical and contemporary images. Chapters have been revised to include contemporary ideas about representation, gaze, agency, and decolonizing the camera, as well as an expanded history that includes work from the global South and the civil rights movements in the US. A new fourth chapter focuses on activist practices that go beyond traditional reportage. It features 19 new interviews and updates on the original interviews. Photographers talk about their practices, the challenges they face in the twenty-first century, advice on working with NGOs and non-profits, and how to form partnerships to expand the dissemination of their work.

Photography as Activism is an essential text for courses on documentary and photojournalism, and those that explore art as social change more broadly, but also a call to action for young photographers to pick up their cameras and advocate for change.

Photography as Activism is a vital read for students, issue-based photographers, picture editors, educators, and curators. It critically examines photography as a tool for activism. It delves deeply into the aims and motivations of the practitioners, their desire to effect meaningful change, and the ethical quandaries they face.

Paul Wenham-Clarke, Professor of Photography and Course Leader, MA Photography, Arts University Bournemouth

Photography as Activism moved me to create a class based on its inspiring contents! Before reading it, I felt my impulse to make change through images was a futile effort. The in-depth interviews along with Bogre's articulate delivery of the history and philosophy guiding the work plot our path forward.

Judy Walgren, Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist and faculty at Foothill College, San Francisco

Informative! Enriching! Engrossing! In Photography as Activism, Bogre draws on her 30 years of cross-practice experience to produce this Must-Read guide for documentary practitioners, and a Really-Should-Read for everyone studying the processes of social reform in North America, mid-19th century to now, with insights and inspirations for the future. 

Stephen Mayes, Executive Director, Tim Hetherington Trust