Citizens of photography: visual activism, social media and rhetoric of collective action in Cambodia

ABSTRACT

We are living in the age of photography. Photography and visual social media flood our communication channels and become embodied in our daily activities. People who can afford the medium of photography – people who are described here as ‘citizens of photography’ – use these channels to articulate and represent their grievances. These exemplify a form of visual activism and articulation that have long been discussed in social movement studies, yet the links between photography and social movements could benefit from further examination. Drawing on a socio-environmental movement case in Cambodia, this article interrogates how photographic and visual representations and social media shape the outcomes of collective action by discontented citizens. I argue that the ubiquity of visual devices and digital access to visual social media facilitates underprivileged citizens in grassroots movements to aesthetically exert influence on their targets in order to leverage their demands effectively. Beyond considering images as messengers and mediatization, the power of visual images inspires and provokes action: participation in the protest, and re-production and re-circulation of the images on social media. The power of visual images – produced by ordinary citizens – is the performative force that brings about change in the era of social media.

KEYWORDS:

• Citizenship
• visual activism
• social media
• photography
• collective action
• Cambodia

Acknowledgements

The author received financial support for the research and finalization of the article for publication from the European Research Council funded project entitled PHOTODEMOS (Citizens of photography: The camera and the political Imagination), grant number 695283, at the University College London. I would like to thank my PhotoDemos colleagues: Professor Christopher Pinney, Dr Konstantinos Kalantzis, Dr Naluwembe Binaisa, Dr Ileana Selejan and Dr Vindhya Buthpitiya, and the anonymous reviewers of the journal for their valuable comments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Due to Cambodia’s current political context, I use the terms of ‘state’ and ‘government’ interchangeably, since the country is ruled by one party.

2 Including tree crops, such as rubber and teak.

3 According to a youth programme officer (23 January 2020).

4 According to a joint statement of NGOs, retrieved from http://www.ngoforum.org.kh/administrator/components/com_ngoforum/files/513ff3c46a11b7fb60c077128fc73242-Final-Joint-Statement-PreyLang----EN-22-06-15.pdf (accessed 24 May 2017).

5 Prey Lang Community Network website, https://preylang.net/the-threat-2/ (accessed 24 May 2017).

6 A community activist (1 August 2017), and a youth programme officer (23 January 2020).

7 A youth activist in Phnom Penh (20 February 2018).

8 Cited from Cambodian Centre for Human Rights (http://www.cchrcambodia.org/media/files/news/370_200g_en.pdf, accessed 24 May 2017).

9 According to International Telecommunication Union, retrieved from https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx (accessed 8 August 2018).

10 Cited from the Facebook group ‘Prey Lang Trip', retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/groups/359882854200329/ (accessed on 24 May 2017).

11 A youth member of the Prey Lang Community Network (15 August 2017).

12 A community member (1 August 2017).

13 A community member (1 August 2017).

14 A youth activist (15 August 2017).

15 A monk activist (1 August 2017).

16 A community member (15 August 2017).

17 Preah Kunlong (2016–2017) focuses on the spirit of Areng Valley’s natural resources in response to the environmental degradation, retrieved from http://www.khvaysamnang.com/works/preah-kunlong/ (accessed 31 January 2020).

18 Bomb Pond (2009) is critical photography documenting an infamous legacy of US bombing in Cambodia in the 1970s, retrieved from http://www.vandyrattana.com/project/bomb-ponds-2009/ (accessed 31 January 2020).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by H2020 European Research Council: [Grant Number 695283].