The Visual is Political examines the growth of feminist photography as it unfolded in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s. This period in Britain was marked by instability following the collapse of the welfare state, massive unemployment, race riots, and workers’ strikes. However, this was also a time in which various forms of social activism emerged or solidified, including the Women’s Movement, whose members increasingly turned to photography as a tool for their political activism. Rather than focusing on the aesthetic quality of the images produced, Klorman-Eraqi looks at the application of feminist theory, photojournalism, advertising, photo montage, punk subculture and aesthetics, and politicized street activity to emphasize the statement and challenge that the photographic language of these works posed. She shows both the utilitarian uses of photography in activism, but also how these same photographers went on to be accepted (or co-opted) into the mainstream art spaces little by little, sometimes with great controversy. The Visual is Political highlights the relevance and impact of an earlier contentious, creative, and politicized moment of feminism and photography as art and activism.
Table of Contents
Contents
List of Illustrations
1 Introduction
2 Feminist Photography and the Media
3 Photography and the Street / Feminist Documentary
4 Entering the Museum
5 Conclusion and Afterthoughts
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Na'ama Klorman-Eraqi is a lecturer in the art history department at Tel Aviv University in Israel.
What People Are Saying
"Photographs did much more than take on representations of women in 1970s Britain, which Na’ama Klorman-Eraqi demonstrates in her valuable contribution to feminist historiography. As a form of countermedia, feminist photography disrupted conventions of artistic production and display, illuminated power dynamics in public and private space, complicated theoretical debates, and framed a growing social movement identity. With attention to the street, the home, the museum, the media, and the government, this book offers an engaging, interdisciplinary account of aesthetics in politics that will undoubtedly appeal to scholars in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts." Agatha Beins, co-editor of Women's Studies for the Future
"In The Visual is Political Na’ama Klorman-Eraqi brings together a number of important debates concerning the politics of representation in the 1970s and 1980s. Her lucid analysis and wide-ranging themes bring the feminist investments of artists and photographers in Britain to life. This is a timely and important book, which synthesizes information of a number of practices that have so far been peripheral to the history of art. The Visual is Political will surely put these debates back into the spotlight." Amy Tobin, co-editor of London Art Worlds
"A seminal work of original and insightful scholarship [and] an extraordinary study that is enhanced for academia....Impressively informative and exceptional in organized and presentation." Midwest Book Review
"Na’ama Klorman-Eraqi makes a powerful statement with this book. She tackles power dynamics through aesthetic portrayals of politics in 1970’s and 1980’s Britain. This book packs a real punch." Pretty Progressive
activist and artistic practices." Source Thinking Through Photography