Rich and poor

CONTEMPORARY QUESTIONS ABOUT DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY

In 1958, the Stedelijk Museum was one of the first museums of modern art in the world to take photography seriously as a fully-fledged art medium and now has a collection of photographs of international importance. Documentary photography plays an important role in this.
Documentary photography by its very nature raises questions and discussions. It already starts with the word "documentary", a complex and loaded term, which is linked to greats from the history of photography, but is also used in a negative sense when photos are insufficiently visual or personal. Moreover, nowadays the question is increasingly being asked: What is the position of the (documentary) photographer in relation to his subject, with what right and with what intention is 'the other' captured? What is the balance of power - who has the right to portray whom?