The photographer of the 21st century must know the language of the visual, the rules of storytelling as well as ethical action.
“I think one should have education. You should know a lot, you should have seen a lot, that creates education. You don’t necessarily have to have thought about it a lot. Photography is not necessarily an intellectual process like any other art. There’s a lot of intuition, a lot of creativity. Imaginative things are part of it and intellectual reflection is the least part of it.”
Klaus Honnef (See the Video)
We know today that it is not reality that makes the pictures, but that it is the pictures that create our reality.
This work takes the reader on a journey to the questions of ethics in photojournalism, photography and the media.
“Ethics and aesthetics are one.” Ludwig Wittgenstein
“I would have liked to ask Ludwig, how he meant this.” Jörg Zimmer
“Some are suggesting that photography itself is going to expand with artificial intelligence doing what it does into the arts in general. It can expand because artificial intelligence can do certain things faster and better than humans can do, so then what could humans do? I think it’s an opportunity for photographers to become even more explicitly subjective and innovative in terms of what they do. So it’s boths: an inormous challenge and an opportunity at the same time.
Fred Ritchin (see the video)
Work in progress. Open Source. Swarm intelligence.
“Everything has been said before. But since no one is listening, you have to say it again and again. ”André Gide
It is a humble testimony to failure, without claiming truth, but close to reality. It is the arrogant attempt to make an approach a success. It is the effort to answer questions that came up when visiting an exhibition – and which created the feeling: writing about this is a must.
On the need for photo journalism today. From the point of view of people and their history, with a view to the markets and the vision of the future. The “doubting photographer ” follows in the footsteps of those who work every day to make the world a little better.
The questions dealt with here are not (or only rarely) answered by the author and do not claim to be complete. On the contrary. Due to the multitude of answers from different people, a wide range of knowledge is created from which you, dear reader, may draw whatever you want. Every new opinion and question that extends the overall spectrum is welcome: info@gottlicher.de
It is about images and how we deal with them. Ultimately, the project is about how people struggle with questions raised by images. And he should never let it be, because otherwise he opens the door to existential enemies: fear and comfort.
The only constant is change.
The author
Tiny incidents in the photographer’s everyday life set thoughts in motion that change the person concerned and induce the necessity of not being able to shirk to find answers to big questions. This project is committed to the photographers who take part in it – to the choice of their subjects, their resulting thoughts and themselves.
Be free to formulate your own questions so that your journey will be as exciting as mine.
Sergio Gordonas
Think tank & Design
A doubting photographer
Björn S. Göttlicher
Doubting photographer
A doubting photographerProject History
2014
After 6 realized videos about the Spanish real estate landscape, financed with a crowdfunding campaign, the project “No more houses” initiated by Björn Göttlicher, which was managed from the multimedia platform Punt de Focus, changed. Photo and video productions about the diseases Alzheimer’s and Huntington’s were produced, under the series “Breaking the Silence”. Here the idea for “a doubting photographer” was born.
2015
Videos of Björn’s project Punt de Focus have been shown at festivals (Docfest Barcelona, Land Art Castellon) and were in the selection at recognized awards (Carles Rahola, Girona). The members of the project decided at that moment to go separate ways, which led Björn to think about “Like a coat of rain” and to write down the idea about the questions of ethics in photojournalism. “Like a coat of rain” was a sentence that the Spaniard Miguel González said in an interview. Photojournalism is like a soft rain that falls on society until it is ready for change.
For this he received a scholarship from VG Bildkunst.
2018
The economic crisis in Spain, where a large part of Björn’s family lives, makes it more difficult to work on the ethics project. Other projects come to the fore, such as the humour in photography and workshops. After a one-year photo project about the island of Mallorca, the multimedia project “Breaking the Silence: Mallorca” about a mass grave from the Spanish Civil War is still in progress.
2020
Personal changes force Björn to change his location. In Bamberg (Germany) denkpool or Studiopool, a studio in an old swimming pool, is built. Here the project “a doubting photographer” is realized after finishing work on two books about Barcelona and the island of Mallorca. Little by little the website is created. It is filled with the videos that have been created over the last few years. An idea takes shape. From the interviews to the answers, from questions of ethics to concrete problems. And soon the work on the graphic novel will begin, which will visually represent the journey of the doubting photographer.
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