On 14 January, photographers, students, curators, writers, academics and other professionals in the photography industry from around the world released a statement calling for collective accountability against sexual harassment in photography. The statement comes in the wake of an article in the Columbia Journalism Review, published on 21 December 2020, where eleven individuals accused the Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey of sexual harassment. The statement is reproduced in full below.
647 photographers, students, curators, writers, academics and other professionals in the photography industry from around the world have come together to call for collective accountability against sexual harassment in photography in the wake of an article in the Columbia Journalism Review where eleven individuals have made allegations with corroborating evidence against Magnum photographer David Alan Harvey.
The statement expresses solidarity for the individuals who have spoken up. It calls on Magnum Photos to demonstrate leadership in the industry, by taking proactive and reparative steps towards setting new institutional precedents and standards. It also calls on all institutions, power holders and leadership in the photojournalism and wider image-making industry to actively participate in shifting the industry’s understanding of the challenges associated with addressing sexual harassment and abuses of power from an individual’s problem to a collective and systemic one that requires shared accountability and action.
Signatories include Alejandra Aragón, Photographer based in Ciudad Juárez; Amy Yenkin, Co-Founder of We, Women based in New York City; Ana Casas Broda, Co-director of Hydra, Mexico City; Anastasia Taylor-Lind, Photojournalist, London; Andrea Wise, Co-Founder, Diversify Photo; Anna Fox, University for the Creative Arts, Farnham; Alessia Glaviano, Brand Visual Director/Vogue Italia, Milano; Magnum photographers Bieke Depoorter, Carolyn Drake, Cristina De Middel, Hannah Price, Nanna Heitmann, Newsha Tavakolian, and Sohrab Hura; Daniella Zalcman, Executive Director, Women Photograph; Donald Weber, Royal Academy of Art; Photographer, Rotterdam; Elizabeth Krist, Visual Thinking Collective, Jersey City; Emmeline Yong, Co-founder & Director, Objectifs , Singapore; Emma Bowkett, Director of Photography, Financial Times Weekend Magazine, London; Francesca Filippini Pinto, Director of Business Development, The Photographers' Gallery, London; Isadora Romero, Freelance photographer, Quito; Jai Lennard, Founder, Color Positive, New York; Juliette Garms , Programs and Outreach Manager World Press Photo Foundation, Amsterdam; Hannah Reyes Morales, Manila; Hester Keijser, Independent Curator, Editor, Author, Den Haag; Karen Knorr, Photographer and Professor of Photography, London; Kelly Hussey-Smith, Lecturer, Photography, School of Art, RMIT University, Melbourne; Laia Abril, Artist, Barcelona; Lars Sven Willumeit, Curator, Zürich; Lekgetho Makola, Head- Market Photo Workshop, Johannesburg; Louise Fedotov-Clements, Director / FORMAT International Photography Festival, Derby; Lucy Conticello, Photo Editor, Paris; Madz Rehorek, Photographer, Tutor, RMIT University, Melbourne; Mohamed Somji, Gulf Photo Plus, Dubai; NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati, Festival Director - Photo Kathmandu, Kathmandu; Nina Berman, Photographer NOOR and Professor Columbia University, New York City; Oriana Koren, Founder, The Lit List; Founding Member, Authority Collective, Los Angeles; Peter DiCampo, Co-Founder, The Everyday Projects; Philip Blenkinsop, Emeritus Member VII Agency, Arles; Robert Godden, Executive Director, Rights Exposure; Shahidul Alam, Managing Director - Drik Picture Library, Dhaka; Shwe Wutt Hmon, Member/Thuma Collective, Yangon; Tanvi Mishra, Creative Director – The Caravan Magazine, New Delhi; Tanya Habjouqa , NOOR Author/ photographer, East Jerusalem; Tanzim Wahab, Festival Director - Chobi Mela, Dhaka; Tasneem Alsultan, Photojournalist / RUWA, Dammam; Tara Pixley, Authority Collective, Co-Founder + Board Member; Professor of Visual Journalism, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles; Yagazie Emezi, Photographer, Lagos; Yen Duong, Photographer, Ho Chi Minh City.
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