Alternative photographic practice in Syria: the use of citizen photographs and social media within the Syrian Civil War

Syrian society has been affected by one of the most complex modern conflicts for the last
six years. Alongside participation in protests and riots, Syrian citizens took advantage of
developing technology and access to social media, recording as many events as possible
and sharing them with the world. The revolution has been an opportunity for the Syrian
citizens to try to redeem their freedom, but also the power to represent themselves,
showcase their life in Syria and also raise awareness of their protests through
photography. Social media is the channel that offered them this chance and they have
used it intensively since the start of the unrest. Still, the internet and photography are
tools used by both oppressors and the oppressed in Arab countries where the unrest turned
into a visual conflict as well as a military one.

This thesis analyzes the visual discourse developed by various parties involved in the
Syrian conflict and considers how the immediacy of modern technologies allowed these
images to be created and disseminated through social media platforms like Facebook.

Digital photography and social media have definitely changed the way we comprehend the
authority of documentary photography as fundamentally realistic. Deeper understanding
of the subjectiveness of the photographic medium could make us (photographers,
spectators, publishers) recognize alternative photographic practices to express our own
subjectivities, assimilate the subjectivities of others and acknowledge documentary
photography as a creative treatment of reality.