Susan Meiselas

Susan Meiselas was a leading voice in the debate on documentary practice, and sought to create a new understanding of the role of photographs in constructing meaning and truth.  Some of her prominent projects covered carnival strippers, and some took her to Nicaragua and other political conflicts in Central America.

She is currently covering the conflict in Kurdistan, which is a region that encompasses northern Iraq, eastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, and northern parts of Syria and Armenia.  One of the photographs on display has the caption “Families return to the ruins of their homes after the Iraqi army forced them to leave in 1989, Qala Diza, Northern Iraq, 1991.”  What struck me about this photograph was how flat everything was.  Was there really anything to return to? Or maybe the families were returning to the site of their homes after the Iraqi army forced them to leave.  After two years, nothing was left but rubble and dust.  Did they hope to find something from the lives they left behind in the ruins of their homes?

Another photograph on display had the caption “Widow at mass grave, Koreme, Northern Iraq. June 1992.”  Once again, rubble dominated the photograph, with skulls and shoes poking out of the sand.  The woman standing over the mass grave actually looked like she could have been posed, but perhaps her body was simply frozen with grief.  The woman standing over the mass grave actually looked like she could have been posed, but perhaps her body was simply frozen with grief.

Like Cornell Capa, Susan Meiselas is obviously a “concerned photographer.”  It is painfully clear that she intends to show the world what is happening right under its nose, and is completely committed to the task.  It is also clear that her strong opinion on documentary practice was formed not through study, but through experience.