The Center for Photography at Woodstock (CPW) is presenting "Flashpoint! Protest Photography in Print, 1950-Present," a comprehensive exhibition that examines how photography has been used in printed media to support protest movements and political resistance over the past seven decades. The exhibition, curated by Russet Lederman and Olga Yatskevich, will run through August 31, 2025.
The exhibition features an extensive collection of protest-related printed materials from around the world, including photobooks, zines, poster reproductions, pamphlets, independent journals, and alternative newspapers. These diverse forms of media both document and actively participate in various protest movements, showcasing the different roles that photography plays in political resistance and social activism.
Visitors to the exhibition will have access to a hands-on reading room where they can browse through many of the photobooks and zines that are featured in the companion publication "Flashpoint!" The book, edited by curators Russet Lederman and Olga Yatskevich and published by 1010 Photobooks in 2024, serves as a comprehensive guide to the exhibition's materials.
The works displayed in the exhibition are organized according to seven thematic categories that mirror the structure of the original publication: Anti, Gender, Displacement, Race & Class, Environment, Political, and War & Violence. This organizational approach allows visitors to explore how different social and political issues have been addressed through protest photography across various time periods and geographical locations.
The exhibition raises important questions about the nature and purpose of protest photography in different contexts. It explores whether protest photography should be considered primarily as a tool of aesthetic urgency designed for immediate use during unfolding events, such as anonymously created posters or hastily printed flyers pasted on street walls. Alternatively, the exhibition examines how elegantly designed photobooks, often published a year or more after events with the collaboration of renowned photographers, writers, and designers, serve to document past uprisings and movements.
The range of materials on display spans from expressions of outright rage to more subtle, artist-driven commentary, demonstrating the broad spectrum of approaches to protest documentation. "Flashpoint!" encompasses all these different formats and sometimes transcends traditional media definitions, deliberately blurring the boundaries between what constitutes a book, zine, journal, poster, or newspaper.
The Center for Photography at Woodstock is located at 25 Dederick Street in Kingston, New York. More information about the exhibition and the center's programs can be found at www.cpw.org.
