A Matter of Perspective: Truth, Evidence and the Role of Photography as an Investigative Tool

Abstract

The award winning filmmaker, producer and photographer CJ Clarke will write about photography as a method for describing and portraying as well as investigating and scrutinizing current social circumstances. His portfolio covers social campaigns such as child poverty in the UK as well as long-term documentaries about contemporary (sub) cultures, outsiders, and ordinariness throughout the United Kingdom and beyond. Clarke is co-founder and director of Just Another Production Company, which seeks not to emulate the monolithic forms of the past but looks to new possibilities reflective of new digital forms, as demonstrated through their social enterprise, Just Another Photo Festival, a festival that democratises photography by taking photography to the people and forging new audiences. Through this approach of “guerilla photography”, the author is tackling socially relevant topics and uses photography as a journalistic practice of storytelling. Clarke’s chapter revolves around photography as a visual method for telling stories through pictures and photojournalism as an investigative tool that uncovers deplorable states and taboo issues.