What really struck me about Joanne Coates was not only her work, but how in her biography and elsewhere she identifies as a working class photographer. I find that statement very powerful. It shares with the world an aspect of our identity that might otherwise go unnoticed. Declaring one’s class, provides others with some idea of our lived experience and the struggles we may have faced – both generally speaking and as a documentary storytellers. As we discuss, the history of photography and filmmaking is deeply rooted in elitism, as well as colonialism, and the patriarchy – forces that continue to heavily influence these media to this day. The only way in which we’re going to be able to decouple visual storytelling from these destructive forces – if we ever will in the advent of AI – is to acknowledge it, talk about it, and develop the tools to build a more just and humane alternative.

This is exactly the purpose of these podcasts, the articles I write to accompany them, and the platform I hope to build on these foundations.

I really hope you enjoy this episode, and it sparks dialogue about representation, and the role photography and filmmaking has had on maintaining a limited understanding of the forces that govern our societies, and maintaining existing injustices.

References

Don McCullin

Simon Roberts

Bell Hooks

Chris Killip

Mark Neville

Anastasia Traylor-Lind

Mark Fisher (author)

Jeremy Deller

The oil machine directed by Emma Davie

Time span museum – Beatrice: Transition Under Petrocapitalism exhibition

Margaret Mitchell

Gareth Phillips

Baltic Centre of Contemporary Art in Gatesend