documentary theory

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Martha Rosler’s “Decoys and Disruptions”: Images and Discourse as Social Intervention

Martha Rosler's Decoys and Disruptions is a workshop for social intervention. This analysis breaks down its 4 cores: 1) Critiquing liberal documentary, arguing for "alliance with others"; 2) Using feminism to deconstruct domesticity, the body, and media (e.g., "Semiotics of the Kitchen"); 3) Reframing the exhibition as a public forum for policy ("If You Lived Here..."); 4) The "politics of editing" (captions, layout). A key text in institutional critique alongside Sekula and Tagg.
2025.11.05
kiji
kiji

John Tagg’s “The Burden of Representation”: An Archaeology of Evidence and Governance

John Tagg's The Burden of Representation is an archaeology of the photographic archive. This analysis breaks down its 4 core concepts: 1) A photo's "evidentiary power" is not inherent but is produced by institutional archival procedures (police, medical); 2) "Documentary" is not a neutral record but a tool of "governmentality" (a Foucauldian concept) for classifying and disciplining subjects; 3) How photography (e.g., police files) constructs and fixes social identity; 4) A methodology focused on documents and practices, not masterpieces.
2025.11.05
kiji
kiji

Allan Sekula’s “Photography Against the Grain”: The Archive and Politics of Documentary

Allan Sekula's Photography Against the Grain is a key text of critical realism. This analysis breaks down its 4 cores: 1) Reframing "documentary" from aesthetics to political practice and alliance; 2) The "politics of the archive" and how images are used by institutions (capital, labor); 3) Visualizing globalized labor through ports and logistics; 4) The politics of text-image sequencing. A critical toolkit for understanding the archival turn.
2025.11.05
kiji
kiji

Deconstructing the Gaze: Susan Sontag’s “On Photography” as Contemporary Diagnosis

Susan Sontag's On Photography is a crucial cultural diagnosis. This article analyzes its four core arguments: 1) How "viewing" replaces "experience," fragmenting memory; 2) How the "aestheticization" of suffering erodes our ethical response; 3) How "documentary" is institutionally constructed; 4) The paradox of "witness" vs. intervention. It reassesses the book's value as a tool for image analysis.
2025.11.05
kiji