Rise - Zaailand 2

The global protest movement has been impossible to ignore. Statistics suggest we have never seen so many public outcries for change than as in 2013. These civil uprisings and mass protests igniting various parts of the world are immediate manifestations of a crisis of agency, set to mark the 21st century as one of global reorder and mounting insecurity. The Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, the civil war in Syria and the Ukrainian revolt have been the most prominent ones to feature in the news, while some uprisings are yet to emerge on our mental map.

Photographers covering these protests, whether coming from traditional reportage, fine art, fashion photography, or by using collaborative practices, are increasingly seen to respond by finding a personal point of entry into the events unfolding. This helps them to communicate the underlying feelings of disconnectedness with representative power.

The trend towards photographic diversification is a positive signal. It tells how genuinely and widely concerns are shared across a global range of audiences, who can only be effectively informed and mobilized using visual strategies that trigger their specific sense of aesthetics and speak to their visual needs. As photography becomes truly democratic, and as instantaneous transmission of images keeps exploding, it inevitably becomes manifold and polyphonic.