Hollis Frampton: Circles of Confusion. Film/Photography/Video Texts 1968-1981 (1983)

Hollis Frampton is most well known as an independent filmmaker, but has been lecturing and writing about photography, film and video for a long time and in many places and publications. Circles of Confusion assembles eleven articles from exhibition catalogs and from October and Artforum. What Frampton does as a critic is much like what he does as a filmmaker, which is to strip the creative process down to its basic elements, then arrange and display the components..

Framptont’s role in this is critic-as-conjurer . He prestidigitates ideas and illusions from everywhere–history, psychology, philosophy, literature, even archaeology, whatever might apply. However much he may circle, though, he always comes back to basic ontological questions. What is photography? Film? Video? What are the properties that make them unique? What has film to do with narrative? Photography with space and time? Beyond a king these questions Frampton also conjectures about the possible ways of asking them and the likelihood of getting an answer. He also plays the role of critic-as-authoritative-voice, but by exposing the jagged mechanisms of thought makes the reader much more than a participant in the process than is usually the case.

Foreword by Annette Michelson
Publisher Visual Studies Workshop Press, 1983
ISBN 0898220203, 9780898220209
200 pages

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Video For Change. A Guide For Advocacy And Activism (2005)

Pictures from Abu Ghraib showed the power of the amateur image to grab the world’s attention. The Asian tsunami, caught on camcorder, brought home the reality of what had happened more than any news report ever could. Around the world the increasing availability and affordability of technology has fuelled the world of social justice video activism. Film-making — at its best — has the power to change the way people think, and create real social change, and now the tools to do it are more accessible than ever before. This book shows how activists and human rights campaigners can harness the power of images and stories for their own purposes — it’s a step-by-step guide to the handicam revolution.

Written by leading video activists, and staff of the world-renowned human rights organization WITNESS, this practical handbook will appeal to experienced campaigners as well as aspiring video activists. It combines a comprehensive analysis of what’s going on in this growing global field with a how-to primer to doing it yourself.

Video for Change is packed with real-life stories from the fray, how-to guidance, and easy-to-use exercises. Clear and accessible, it provides a crash course in the basics of social justice video documentation and advocacy. The authors cover every aspect of filmmaking from technical guidance to strategic and ethical issues, making it indispensable for both amateur and professional filmmakers.

Readers are shown how to plan, film, edit and distribute; they are shown how to adopt an effective strategy so that their video makes a difference. The book is unique in that it also covers the practical ethics and responsibilities of social justice video-work and offers a global range of real-life stories to learn from.

Edited by Sam Gregory, Gillian Caldwell, Ronit Avni, Thomas Harding
Preface by Peter Gabriel
Published by Pluto Press, 2005
ISBN: 9780745324128
344 pages

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Thomas Harding: The Video Activist Handbook, 2nd ed. (1998/2001)

This second edition of the highly popular The Video Activist Handbook includes numerous examples of contemporary video activism from around the world. The first book to provide the basic skills and know-how required for beginning video activism, it also offers a wealth of ideas on video strategies to those with some prior experience. Whether you are involved in campaigning, non-violent direct action, or simply want to know how to make use of video as a political tool, this book is for you. • Covers the key topics in a step-by-step guide – from choosing and using the right equipment and planning when and where to shoot, to supplying to TV, making a campaign video and legal considerations • Combines clearly written and illustrated practical advice, backed up by a wealth of resources, with first-hand examples of successful video activism • Critically assesses the mainstream media agendas and offers a lively survey of the international video activist scene.

Foreword by Anita Roddick
Publisher Pluto Press, 2001
ISBN 0745317707, 9780745317700
Length 255 pages

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