Moving Walls: A Documentary Photography Exhibition

Moving Walls is based on the premise that photojournalists can use photography as a medium to bring attention to human rights and social justice issues that may otherwise be overlooked by mainstream media outlets. Photography can, thus, be a way for them to express their commitment to these issues and advocate for the people in their images. The photographers who are part of this project use diverse techniques - portraiture, collaborative projects, social documentary work, photo montage, and war reportage - in an effort to encourage the viewer to study a body of work, to consider what it says, and - if inspired or provoked - to act.

Specifically, there have been various exhibitions open to the public, such as the 12th United-States-based event, Moving Walls 12, which involves 6 photographers covering a range of subjects, including poverty and discrimination in Europe and the United States, the path of diamonds from miner to consumer, an intimate view of the impact of stigma and violence, and changes taking place in the new China. For more information about this particular exhibit - including artist statements, biographies, and online photo galleries - click here. Moving Walls has been exhibited at OSI's offices in New York City and Washington, D.C.; various locations in Baltimore, Maryland; and at the Columbia School of Social Work in New York City. In addition, as part of Moving Walls International, the work of 7 photographers, culled from over 60 whose photographs have been shown in Moving Walls exhibitions in the United States, was selected to tour the Middle East, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

Each individual photographer participating in Moving Walls uses different approaches; one of them, Donna DeCesare, whose work is titled "Sharing Secrets: Children's Portraits Exposing Stigma", drew on participatory strategies. She notes that, when beginning the project, she became aware of the need for children, especially those who feel trapped by stigma (such as HIV/AIDS-related stigma), to have a context in which they can exercise control. Later, when a child asked if he could pick a different name to accompany his photographs, it occurred to the artist that he was really asking to share control. This inspired her to look for ways to make the image-making process collaborative; she sought "a way of working that would protect the children's identities, allay their fears, and empower them to speak truthfully about their lives." She explains, "My conversations with the children became like a brainstorming game. In this playful dance of posing and waiting for a spontaneous gesture, an expression of candor, or an image that provided context, we learned to trust each other and they were able to share their secrets."

October 2014 update: Moving Walls 23 opens June 2015, and organisers are "looking for photographers and artists who are expanding the visual language of documentary photography and reflect a diversity of global perspectives." Click here to apply (deadline: November 18 2014) and follow this project on Facebook and Twitter.

Human Rights, Conflict, Poverty.

Moving Walls is associated with OSI's Documentary Photography Project, which was launched in 2003 to support photographers in the area of distribution. The series "represents the transitional condition of open societies and the promotion and maintenance of democratic values. Nations often erect obstacles and barriers such as political oppression, economic instability, and racism. Yet, even as these walls are built, there are people committed to tearing them down. As the name of the exhibition series implies, Moving Walls is an artistic interpretation of this struggle."

Here is a comment from one of the photographers participating in Moving Walls, Donna DeCesare (referenced above): "Any illusion that photographers can control where or how our images appear dissolves in the age of the Internet. An image that exists in a public sphere can be instantly copied and distributed whether or not its publication is intended or officially sanctioned. How to depict suffering and injustice without exposing victims to further stigma or harm has become much more difficult."