Lecture by Adam Mazur Atrocity Exhibition. New Modes of Representing Violence, War, and Trauma in Central and Eastern European Photography

 In this part of the world, photography is saturated with blood and pain. Just when things seem to be getting a bit better, war or conflict breaks out again, or some psychopath organizes an ethnic cleansing. Also in the 21st century, artists using photography commemorate, warn and empathize with victims, accuse perpetrators and document crimes. Even if in Central and Eastern Europe we are "accustomed" to cruelty and images of trauma that stay with us for generations, we still have no theory of this type of representation. Ever since the landmark publication Picturing Atrocity. Photography in Crisis (edited by Geoffrey Batchen et. al.), we know how to question our role as a photographic voyeur, but what we do not know is how to cope with the condition of a bystander. The theory of images of cruelty derived from Susan Sontag's essays by such outstanding thinkers as Rebecca Solnit, T. J. Demos, Alfredo Jaar, Ariella Azoulay, John Lucaites, Robert Hariman, and Susan Meiselas should be used, but also critically analyzed, here, in a place where we are almost constantly dealing with the production of violence and violence of images. The lecture will present some of the most important artists dealing with the topic of war and trauma today. In addition to artists, changes in the representation apparatus, mechanics of creation and methods of image distribution will also be discussed. This applies not only to the war in Ukraine, but also to the on-going migration crisis. What is specific about war images from Central and Eastern Europe? In the era of manipulation and AI, can we still trust images taken by reporters working on the front? What impact do photos have on the course of the war and public opinion? Do the images of violence coming to us from the front and the border desensitize us, or, as Susan Sontag wrote, can they constitute a form of resistance, support and strengthen empathy for the victims of the conflict? How are photos from the current war, hopefully not the next world war that started in Central and Eastern Europe, embedded – and how do they go down in the history of photography? 

Image: Sasha Kurmaz, Untitled, 2022