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Appearance and photographs of people in flight
A qualitative study of photojournalistic practices in spaces of
(forced) migration
Rebecca Bengtsson Lundin
Academic dissertation for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Journalism at Stockholm
University to be publicly defended on Friday 19 November 2021 at 13.00 in JMK-salen,
Garnisonen, Karlavägen 104.
Abstract
This study explores photojournalistic practices by investigating how spaces of (forced) migration, as well as the people
and objects moving in and across them, appeared in Swedish newspapers in 2015.
Photographs are unique objects of study, as the presence of people in certain spaces becomes directly observable through
them. By considering photographs as agentic entities resulting from the many encounters between people involved in the
event of photojournalism, the focus is on the social and political relations that emerge from these encounters, which opens
up for an examination of questions of citizenship and visibility in relation to photography.
The inquiry scrutinises the traditional ontological framework for discussing photographs and the act of photography
related to people in flight, which generally is limited to the content visible within the frame, implying that photographs are
the products of one stable point of view – that of the photographer. This thesis offers insights into mediated and mediating
ways of seeing and their implications by: (1) examining photojournalism and photographs as a combination of content,
practice, and place-making that produces events of photojournalism; (2) linking these to the notion of spaces of appearance
and the potential for political action that ensues; (3) providing a specific account of photojournalism as a practice that
enables modes of self-presentation; and, (4) reflecting on encounters that unfold in the event of photojournalism due to the
fact that photographs, as shareable stories, are reproduced and circulated in time and space.
The analysis draws upon a primarily qualitative, multi-method approach, combining an interview study with
photojournalists and a visual analysis of photographs published in four Swedish newspapers in 2015. Through an approach
of watching photography, the study examines the spatial and temporal dimensions of photographs beyond the stillness
imposed by the frame and offers an analysis centred on movement and place. Employing Arendt’s notion of appearance in
terms of both photojournalists in spaces of (forced) migration and others who are moving in and across these spaces, the
results indicate that photojournalism, as a space of appearance, potentially stretches beyond the moment of photography.
The findings further show that photojournalism practices do not only visualise events of (forced) migration, but they
facilitate the appearance of, and encounters with, people in flight. The event of photojournalism offers a space which
recognises fleeing as an action. By appearing in photographs, people in flight regain part of the spontaneity that they have
been deprived of as stateless individuals, giving them an opportunity to reappear before others as subjects of rights. The
thesis concludes that photographs should not merely be construed as representations, but rather as presentations anew, with
people’s appearance in photographs being testimony to their ability to self-present.
Keywords: Photojournalism studies, photography, critical visual analysis, watching photography, appearance,
encounters, photojournalistic practices, space, (forced) migration, flight.
Stockholm 2021
http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:su:diva-197547
