Human Rights In Camera

by Sharon Sliwinski

From the fundamental rights proclaimed in the American and French declarations of independence to the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights and Hannah Arendt’s furious critiques, the definition of what it means to be human has been hotly debated. But the history of human rights—and their abuses—is also a richly illustrated one. Following this picture trail, Human Rights In Camera takes an innovative approach by examining the visual images that have accompanied human rights struggles and the passionate responses people have had to them.
Sharon Sliwinski considers a series of historical events, including the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and the Holocaust, to illustrate that universal human rights have come to be imagined through aesthetic experience. The circulation of images of distant events, she argues, forms a virtual community between spectators and generates a sense of shared humanity. Joining a growing body of scholarship about the cultural forces at work in the construction of human rights, Human Rights In Camera is a novel take on this potent political ideal.

Genres: Photography

192 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2011

Reviews

[Gabby]

This was just 144 pages of the author repeating herself and explaining the arguments against her thesis without ever countering those arguments and therefore essentially conceding that her thesis is wrong. The whole book read like someone desperately trying to reach the word requirement for an essay.