Civil Imagination: A Political Ontology of Photography

The photograph is not just an image, but an event that can intervene in political relationships. Ariella Aïsha Azoulay's book challenges definitions of photography and the political and calls for us to use photographs of political violence to build our capacity for civil imagination. It also discusses the legal battles to reclaim the images of the enslaved Papa Renty, held by Harvard University, and rejects the regime of photographs as private property. Azoulay's book valorizes powerful intersubjective relations enabled by photography, which exceed the strictures of imperial power.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 19 March 2024
Publisher: Verso Books

The photograph is not just a simple image, but rather a moment in a larger sequence of photographic events. Challenging established definitions of photography and politics, Ariella Aïsha Azoulay urges us to use photographs of political violence, such as the colonial regime in Palestine, to envision the political relationships that made each photograph possible and to intervene in them. By doing so, we can enhance our capacity for civil imagination, a way of seeing and imagining ourselves as part of the image rather than merely as spectators.

The new edition of this book includes a discussion of the legal battles to reclaim the images of the enslaved Papa Renty, held by Harvard University, rejecting the regime of photographs as private property established by institutions that claim ownership of images seized with violence. This book is a powerful and perennially relevant exploration of the powerful intersubjective relations enabled by photography, relations that exceed the strictures of imperial power.

For Azoulay, photography's entangled temporalities enable a transformation of our sense of what persists, just as a collective practice of civil imagination reconstructs our apprehension of those with whom we unevenly share a lifeworld. Azoulay distinguishes spectatorship from the radical work of being a companion, a distinction that itself rewrites normative conceptions of the social work of seeing.

Stanley Wolukau-Wanambwa, author of "Dark Mirrors," praises this book as a "trenchant, perennially contemporary exploration of the power of photography to transform our understanding of the world." He notes that Azoulay's work challenges us to think critically about the role of photography in shaping our perceptions and experiences of political violence and to consider how we can use it to promote social change.

In conclusion, "The Civil Imagination of Photography" is a thought-provoking and important book that encourages us to think more deeply about the role of photography in shaping our world and to use it as a tool for promoting social change. By challenging established definitions of photography and politics, Azoulay offers us a new way of seeing and imagining ourselves as part of the image, and she provides us with a framework for intervening in the political relationships that make each photograph possible. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in photography, politics, or social justice.

Weight: 286g
Dimension: 139 x 209 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781804292594
Edition number: New ed