Susan Meiselas: On the Frontline

In On the Frontline, one of the most influential photographers of our time, Susan Meiselas, provides an insightful personal commentary on the trajectory of her career–on her ideas and processes, and her decisions as a photographer. Applying a sociological training to the practice of witness journalism, she compares her process to that of an archaeologist, piecing together shards of evidence to build a three-dimensional cultural understanding of her subjects. Meiselas achieved worldwide recognition for her photographic coverage of the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1979–first published in 1981 and now regarded as a seminal work of journalism–which followed her exploration of the experience of women on the carnival entertainment circuit, Carnival Strippers (1976). She went on to spend five years exploring and creating a new visual history of the Kurdish people, published as Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History (1997). In On the Frontline, she guides us through the thinking behind each, and many other projects besides, as well as her influential involvement in Magnum Photos as one of its earliest women members. One of the greatest contributors to the evolution of documentary storytelling, Meiselas here offers a compelling insight into her journey as a photographer and thinker.