My project stems from building upon the insights of Ariella Aïsha Azoulay - recognising photography as an active tool of oppression and control. The act of taking a photograph, especially that of suffering, involves an inherently colonial and imperialistic gaze, positioning the photographer as the oppressor and the subject as the oppressed.

This project displays a series of edited archival stills from the Vietnam War within a large grid. Whiteouts are painted over certain areas, obscuring experiences of suffering, and simultaneously, bringing new subjective interpretations to light. The project looks to extend beyond dealing with suffering. It questions the potential of exploring pleasure within these edited stills. By intentionally removing sections and painting over certain areas, the absence of suffering within these censored portions directs viewers to uncover moments of joy and shared humanity.

The choice of presenting the images in a grid is deliberate. This format serves as a visual canvas, connecting moments of a shared historical event. The grid will allow for the organisation of images that reflect or juxtapose one another, depicting the cyclical nature of suffering and resilience. The seriality of the grid emphasises on the repeated patterns of oppression - and the ways in which they are photographed i.e the 'captor' and the 'captive'. Photographs of this nature, where there is a clear distinction of power in between the different subjects of the photographed image, will be of focus. The project looks to liberate these photographs of such differences.

Photographing suffering, according to Azoulay, is entangled with a web of ethical complexities. She emphasizes the role of the viewer in perpetuating the objectification of photographed subjects, preventing the viewer from taking any meaningful action. Azoulay advocates for a more responsible approach to documenting suffering, one that prioritizes the rights of the oppressed. The project looks to respond to this vision, dismantling oppressive power structures (in this case - through the specific 'censorship' of certain subjects within an image) to engage in meaningful political transformation.

By contemplating the obscured sections, I hope to discover alternative ways in which we may understand the complexities of our shared history. My project looks to defy the conventional narrative that is associated with war time photography, creating room for the reinterpretation of knowledge through archival images, and to explore the ways in which pleasure is overshadowed by suffering.