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Look3: Photographers on Honesty and Objectivity  

Last week, I attended the Look3 Festival of the Photograph in Charlottesville, VA, and was struck by the conflicting opinions on the role of photographic images.  Ashley Gilbertson delivered an impassioned talk about why he photographs the empty bedrooms of young soldiers killed in conflict. “I don’t believe in objectivity,” he explained, “I believe in honesty.” Spending weeks telephoning families of deceased soldiers and traveling around the world to photograph empty bedrooms is not a neutral endeavor. That evening, Massimo Vitale, famous for his large wall-size prints of crowds on beaches, provided a directly opposing view: “I’m all for objectivity,” he […]

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