Photography in Contemporary Conflict

by Dave Sumner on Jul.08, 2009, under External events

Photography in Contemporary Conflict – discussion with Stephen Dupont, David Hempenstall and Shaune Lakin THIS SATURDAY!

Photography in Contemporary Conflict

Do photographs have the power to affect the way we think about and perceive war? What role is there for photography in contemporary conflict?

When military authorities have placed so many conditions around the practice of photography in conflict zones, it has become increasingly difficult for photographers to record and communicate the full effects of war. In the post-Abu Ghraib period, the public record of conflict is dependent on images taken by photojournalists whose movement and access is tightly managed, or on military propaganda.

Join internationally renowned photojournalist Stephen Dupont, Director of MGA Shaune Lakin, and photographer David Hempenstall as they discuss the influence of images in contemporary conflict.

Stephen Dupont is one of Australia’s most acclaimed war photographers, and in 2005 won the Robert Capa Gold Medal for his now-iconic photographs of American troops burning the bodies of Taliban fighters. David Hempenstall has also experienced war as a photographer. He spent 2005-6 living on the US military base Camp Slayer in Baghdad while photographing mass graves in Iraq. An exhibition of photographs taken by Hempenstall of Camp Slayer is currently on show at MGA.

Come along and join the discussion! 2.00 pm Saturday 11 July 2009
FREE event – bookings preferred 03 9562 1569