Performing the news

Abstract

Photographs of non-professionals taking pictures are a common feature of contemporary journalism. Drawing on theories of photography as performance and ritual, this article addresses what it means when professionals include these photographing “others” in their images of news events. It argues that the image of the amateur, performing photography in the news, shifts and destabilizes journalistic discourse. Using examples from the daily press, the article accounts for these “meta-pictures” as a manifestation of participatory visual culture dating from 9/11, examines specific ways they challenge the authority of the professional and considers how they alter the significance of the media event.

Acknowledgments

Several people have provided helpful comments on earlier versions of this text, including Kari Andén-Papadopoulos, Anette Göthlund, John Kimmick, Eva Kingsepp, Alexa Robertson, Marja Salo, Tytti Soila and Trond Waage. The article draws on papers presented at Nomadicon (Bergen, November 2011) and PhotoMedia (Helsinki, March 2012).

Notes

1 Dagens nyheter, 12 Oct. 2001. Photographer Martina Huber.

2 The conceptualization and meanings of media events have been the focus of ongoing debates and research within media studies, as found, for example in Couldry et al.

3 Others who have analyzed the importance of photography, their own and others’, at the site of Ground Zero include Hirsch (B11–B14) and Taylor (239, 247–58).

4 Svenska dagbadet, 18 Aug. 2005, A7. Photographer Björn Larsson Ask.

5 Kevin LaMarque, Senior staff photographer for Reuters took the photograph often used in online discussions of the Patriot Act. Web. 18 Oct, 2012. <http://www.reuters.com/article/2007/09/27/us-security-oregon-ruling-idUSN2628372820070927>.

6 Note, too, how the camera as surveillance tool signifies in the hands of the man who was instrumental in executing a bill that expanded governmental powers of surveillance.

7 Minneapolis Star & Tribune, 28 July 2005.

8 For work in media and communication studies on media ritual, see Becker, “Media”; Cottle; Couldry; Couldry et al.; Durham; Rothenbuhler, Ritual Communication.

9 Photographer Anders Hansson, 2nd place foreign news, Swedish Pictures of the Year Contest (Årets bild), 2011. Web. 27 Sept. 2012. <http://www.pfk.se/arets-bild-2012-vinnarbilder/?pid=48 >.