Images of a Revolution – Evelyn Runge
How the active use of social media enables photojournalists in a revolution to gain professional standing
Translation: Diana Aurisch / Copy-editing: Tom Seidel
The young man’s head rests gently on his shoulder. His mouth and eyes are closed. His left ear, his forehead, and his nose are covered in blood. He is being carried by two men; the one in front is bearded and has a look of great concentration on his face, his teeth are clenched. The other man is crying out, his mouth wide open and half hidden by a protective mask, his eyes squeezed shut. He is in shock and obviously does not realise that he is carrying a corpse.
Mosa’ab Elshamy photographed this scene in Cairo around midday on 27 July 2013, in the vicinity of Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square. The moment was the result of an outbreak of violence between security forces and supporters of former President of Egypt Mohammed Mursi. Elshamy’s photo received an Award of Excellence from the Picture of the Year International competition and is considered one of TIME Magazine’s ten best photos of 2013.
The Arab Revolution is considered a social media revolution
Three years before this event, Mosa’ab Elshamy was still studying pharmacology. Outside of his studies, he was also maintaining a Flickr account, but his photos were mainly dedicated to family shots and touristy snaps with a postcard aesthetic. It was the Arab Spring that turned him into an activist and a professional photojournalist. Starting in February 2011, the then 21-year-old Elshamy began photographing protests in Egypt, first capturing Tahrir Square in Cairo from a bird’s eye perspective, then later mainly protest banners and protestors. His visual language quickly developed in the direction of classical photo reportage, featuring dynamic compositions taken close to the people involved, a subjective narrative stance, and a focus on conflict-prone situations referencing a larger social context. Today the 27-year-old works as a photojournalist for the AP news agency.
The Arab Revolution is considered a social media revolution, with citizens protesting and organising across Facebook, Twitter, and other channels. Elshamy’s trajectory also represents the interplay of political visual activism on Twitter and Flickr as well as the printing of his images in traditional media outlets – although he is decidedly an exception and few other activists received similar attention.
An important aspect of Elshamy’s career was that his photos were noticed on Twitter by Andy Carvin, a US-based journalist reporting on the Arab Spring for National Republic Radio. Carvin himself described his Twitter network as ‘my editors, researchers & fact-checkers. You’re my news room’. Mosa’ab Elshamy became part of that news room, and his Twitter account @mosaaberizing became a trusted alternative source for Carvin. Meanwhile, Carvin himself became more of a curator than a classic gatekeeper: he no longer filtered the news, but selected the pieces, and through his curation it was still possible to trace his selection of sources, a distinct difference between Carvin’s method and traditional journalistic gatekeeping.
Media companies have increasingly pulled out of international reporting over the last few years
The example of Elshamy and Carvin illustrates several aspects that characterise (photo) journalistic reporting from revolution and crisis areas in the twenty-first century. As media companies have increasingly pulled out of international reporting over the last few years, and as it is no longer typical for photojournalists to be under permanent contract with a single employer, the demand for images is increasingly being met by local sources. Known as ‘stringers’, these freelancers often earn less than full employees and are not necessarily insured via the companies for which they work, which allows employers to outsource the risk. This development is also seen as an opportunity, especially by young people – digital natives – who use social networks as publication and distribution paths for their observations in written and visual form. In doing so, they tend to see themselves as critical citizens or as political activists rather than as journalists.
Editorial departments and news portals are transitioning to using networks and decidedly image-focused platforms such as Flickr, Instagram, and Twitter as sources for photo material. The roles of journalists as well as of social media managers can no longer be accurately described using the classic term of gatekeeper, and terms such as curator or ‘gatewatcher’ seem more fitting.
International photo competitions can ease the winners’ path into professional photojournalism
Last but not least, international photo competitions such as the World Press Photo Award promote new talents that have made a name for themselves through photo reportage in crisis areas. Such recognition eases the winners’ path into professional photojournalism. That’s exactly what happened to Mosa’ab Elshamy: in an interview with World Press Photo Award, he said of the Arab Spring: ‘We know the story… and it had personal effects on us as well.’ And he is optimistic about the distribution of images via social media. As he put it, the online presence makes it possible in the long term for every image to ‘find its way, and that has been the case for me’.
Evelyn Runge was a member of the Junge Akademie from 2011 to 2016. She is currently based at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she is researching production conditions for photojournalists.
