To the SDN Community:

 

We are realizing that many photographers are confused by our Call for Entries and what we mean by "Documentary in the Era of Post-Truth". Allow us to clarify and also why your documentary work matters.

 

For ten years, photographers on SDN have been telling important stories about gender, race, identity, class, migration, discrimination of all kinds, global health, war, peace, the environment, the economy, and what life is like in challenging circumstances the world over. And just as important, photographers also present stories about the tenacity of the human spirit to overcome all of these obstacles.

 

These stories matter, especially in an era of post-truth, when world leaders manipulate the facts to advance their base of power and bloggers repost falsehoods to sway unsophisticated readers. We believe the facts matter and we believe that you, documentary photographers, have the proof to challenge the falsehoods we hear on a regular basis today.

 

We are not looking for anything different than what you normally do with your photography. Rather we are claiming that documentary photography in its many different forms is in itself a challenge to the these falsehoods. A challenge to post-truth.

 

In the upcoming fall issue of ZEKE magazine, Fred Ritchin begins an essay on post-truth with "In the first 466 days of his presidency, Donald Trump made 3,001 false or misleading claims" and then poses this question, "what is the role of the journalistic or documentary photograph for maintaining the public record and enabling constructive social change in this era labeled "post-truth"?

 

The role of the documentary image today is complex and is easily manipulated by Photoshop and other technical innovations that force us to question if a photograph is real or fiction. But a documentary story is more than the individual photograph. It is about your commitment and relationship to your subjects. It is about a collection of images that all support a theme and tell a real story. It is about your reputation in the community of visual storytellers and consumers. And it is about your passion for telling "truth" about people, our environment, and the vastly complex world we live in today.

 

This is what we mean by documentary in the era of post-truth. Your work, regardless of the subject matter, has always mattered. But today your work matters more than ever. Your documentary work lies on the front lines between what is real and what is manipulation. We ask of you to join this fight and enter your work to this Call for Entries, and we will do our best to have it seen and heard.

 

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