Conversations with History; Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley

See the Conversations with History Blog See a webcast of this interview: Peress

This interview is part of the Institute's "Conversations with History" series, and uses Internet technology to share with the public Berkeley's distinction as a global forum for ideas.

Welcome to a "Conversation with History." I'm Harry Kreisler of the Institute of International Studies. Our guest today is Gilles Peress. He is a photographer with Magnum Photos. His most recent books include Farewell to Bosnia and The Silence, on the genocide in Rwanda.

1. Background ... education ... language vs. reality ... photography as a tool for understanding
2. Photography ... escaping categories ... witness: understanding reality ... moral outrage
3. Philosophical Implications ... good and evil ... passive international response ... the curse of history ... repeating mistakes ... absence of images
4. The Process ... few preconceived ideas ... dialogue with reality: open text ... a different angle
5. The Meaning of Images: Bosnia ... viewer's task to reconstruct images ... relating images to our own lives: family
6. The Meaning of Images: Rwanda ... photography as language ... Biblical imagery ... mutual influence of print, web, video ... higher goals
7. Current and Future Projects ... Northern Ireland ... Bosnia ... Middle East
8. Conclusion ... developing critical faculties ... can the world be changed?

To the Gilles Peress page, with links. See especially the internet chat between Peress and middle school students.

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