Shared knowledge: an approach to photographic research
francesca spedalieri
© photo by francesca spedalieri ph.
Multidisciplinarity is one of the best and most important feature of photography. In fact, photography, in order to take form, needs a relation with reality and for this reason is in constant dialogue with everything that surround us and its infinite manifestations. This constant confrontation with reality gives to photography a strong multidisciplinary component. Leaving aside all the implication that photography has in other art forms, or in profession of any kind, I’d like to talk about the importance of a multidisciplinary approach in the realization phase of a photographic project.
In my specific field of work, that is documentary photography, I’m interested in social, cultural and environmental issues and my fields of research are places and territories inhabited and shaped by man. For this particular kind of projects is requested a lot of studies and researches, because themes and their implications are varied and very complex.
I do believe that contacts between photographers and specialist of any kind is of extremely importance for documentary photography. The main risk that photographer can occur is to work in fields that are unknown to him. In this way the predicted project will be sterile, and will not investigate properly and completely a given reality or situation. It is therefore extremely important to rely on professionals. In fact with their knowledge and professional approach, they can guide and advise the photographer. I’ve worked on a project on the pollution of Sacco Valley in Italy. It was really important for me to be able to speak with doctors, activists, workers, scientists and other professionals. Everyone of them contribuite to make my project a real and complete investigation on a place in crisis, allowing me to go beyond the simple representation of a territory.
Another interesting feature of contemporary documentary photography is about the multidisciplinary form of the projects, that are no longer exclusively photographic. It is becoming more and more common projects that included different media. Photographies, videos, and texts are used for a better understanding of a fragmented and difficult reality. And if we remain in a images strict field, a lot of projects are made of photographies made not exclusively by the author, but also archival photographies, documents, maps, drawings, texts and interviews. All of this tools together give a great completeness of information, and are able to communicate with the viewer in an original and strong way.
Another expression of multidisciplinarity that we can see in photography is about an original method of inquiry implemented by some photographer’s collectives. For the last fifteen years groups of photographers decided to work together on a theme (often related to territory) and they want the shooting to be the last phase of a long research project. Beforehand they organized workshops, round tables, festivals, meeting places where a lot of different people can discuss and share. This great plurality of viewpoints represent the real strength of the project, and is expression of a strong desire to really understand whats around us. We can’t understand and interpret a place without the collaboration of who contributed to create and shape the place itself: architects, sociologists, anthropologists, citizens. Their unique points of view is valuable for the research.
Shared knowledge become the core of the photographic project.
After all those considerations, it become very clear the importance of a multidisciplinary platform not only for documentary photographers, but for every profession or field in which photography can be an important tool for communication.
francesca spedalieri
I’m a photographer currently based in Milan. My photographic investigation focuses on places and territories inhabited by men, how they are constantly shaped by the people who lives in them.
With the project “Where the river flows” about the pollution in Valle del Sacco, I was awarded with the special jury mention in the section portfolio Umbria photo prize at Umbria World Fest in 2017. The project was exhibited at MUVE Museum in San Giuliano di Roma in 2018.
In 2018 I was included in the book “100 stories of creativity” edited by Regione Lazio.
I’m currently working in a communication agency in Milan, and I work as a freelance photographer in Milan.
Email: francescaspedalieri1@gmail.com
Instragram: francescaspedalieri