Photographing the ‘Battlefield’: the role of ideology in photojournalist practices during the anti-austerity protests in Greece.

Abstract

This paper explores the interactions between photojournalists, police and protesters during protests and demonstrations, with a focus on how they influence photographic practices. Journalistic scholarship on issues of objectivity along with the theoretical framework of ideologically structured action (Zald, 2000) are employed in order to examine how the ideological, personal and professional values of photojournalists shape their coverage of protests. These issues are addressed through an empirical study of photojournalists who were tasked with capturing footage of the anti-austerity demonstrations seen in Greece since 2010. The paper presents the results of a critical thematic analysis of 20 semi-structured interviews conducted with Greek photojournalists between 2015 and 2016. It explores the factors that shaped the image production processes of these photojournalists, with a particular focus on how their often antagonistic interactions with police and protesters led them to reflect upon their role in covering the anti-austerity protests in Greece during this period.