The second session of the Observatory series at Shared Ecologies dives into the lives of photographs. Taking Uzma Mohsin’s series of Safarnamas (or travelogues) and other ‘photo journals’ as a focal point, this session looks at locating storytelling through photographic practice and how it can be seen as an emergent property rather than singular engagement. The photo journals will be on display to browse, and will be followed by a talk and discussion with the artist.

Uzma’s photo journals take place between the photo book and the scrapbook––the formal/fixed and informal/unfixed. In Safarnamas, Uzma questions the lens of a tourist in conflict zones from recent history, locating resonances and residues from the past within the present, across Phnom Penh (Cambodia), Cairo (Egypt) and Kashmir (India). The practice of sequencing as sense-making emerges from the shapeshifting form of the journal. How does the process of looking, collecting, keeping and retelling take place? 

About the artist: 

Uzma Mohsin uses photography to unravel narratives of people and places. She is interested in how photography helps open conceptual and creative possibilities for critically examining public histories and building a conversation around the idea of home and belonging.