Title
Cameras as Weapons of Resistance: Refugees Disrupting the Colonial Narrative Through Photography
Date of Award
5-12-2017
Degree Type
Capstone Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts in Cultural Studies (BA)
Department
Cultural Studies
First Advisor
Douglas Reichert Powell
Second Advisor
Robert E. Watkins
Third Advisor
Kenneth Daley
Abstract
This project analyzes the photography project “#RefugeeCameras”, where German photojournalist Kevin McElvaney gave disposable cameras to refugees to document their own experiences. The project includes close examination of the photography collection and considers the photographic depiction of landless people by other landless people in juxtaposition to the concept of the refugee as a ‘terrorist’. The examination of these images will reveal how photographs become a tool that can disrupt ideological stances that harm innocent people such as Islamophobia and fear mongering towards refugees that are deemed a threat by the Trump administration’s Executive Order, “Protecting the Nation From Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States”. This comprehends the realities of the refugee crisis as a Postcolonial issue and resists the dehumanization of those who are commonly misperceived as a threat.
Recommended Citation
Elder, Shannon, "Cameras as Weapons of Resistance: Refugees Disrupting the Colonial Narrative Through Photography" (2017). Cultural Studies Capstone Papers. 14.
https://digitalcommons.colum.edu/cultural_studies/14
Included in
Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Cultural History Commons, Photography Commons, Political Science Commons