International Red Cross and Red Crescent
Museum
International Red Cross and Red Crescent
Museum

Watching Me, Watching You

When Magnum Photos photographers observe what is observing us


On the occasion of our Solidarity Sunday on 5 February, we invite the Edgelands Institute and the Magnum Photos Agency to share the first results of their ongoing collaboration. A round table with photographers Peter van Agtmael and Thomas Dworzak, and researcher Bernard Rappaz will be moderated by Pascal Hufschmid. It will allow you to discover their images, discuss their observations and, above all, to see how photography is a formidable tool for becoming aware of the increasing digitalisation of our private and public lives.

  • discussion in English
  • free event, resistation HERE
  • the acces to the permanent and temporary exhibitions is not free

Surveillance cameras, facial recognition software, commercial exploitation of our private data, constant digital surveillance in public spaces: all these technologies are increasingly encircling our daily lives and our way of living together.

The Edgelands Institute has set itself the goal of establishing "ephemeral laboratories" to study the impact of this digitalisation of security in different urban environments. Yesterday in Medellin and Cúcuta, today in Geneva and Nairobi, tomorrow in Singapore and Chicago, the aim is to promote understanding of this new digital landscape. 

The Magnum Photos Agency is a partner in the project and will intervene in each of the cities to look at the issues surrounding the use of these surveillance technologies. For more information: Watching Me, Watching You.

Peter van Agtmael works on themes of conflict, history and memory. Born in Washington, D.C. in 1981, he has received numerous awards including the World Press Photo Award and several covers of the NY Times Magazine. He joined Magnum Photos in 2008. With the Edgelands Institute in Medellin, he discovered a city once considered one of the world's most dangerous metropolises that is now observed both formally and informally by a network of private and public devices.

Thomas Dworzak has documented many of the key events and conflicts that have marked history since 1990, first in Northern Ireland, Palestine and the former Yugoslavia, then in Afghanistan, Iraq, Georgia and Ukraine. Born in Germany in 1972, the quality of his vision has also been recognised by numerous awards and he has been a member of Magnum Photos since 2004.
With the Edgelands Institute in Geneva, he has been tracking the digital traces observed in a "world-city" where all kinds of local and international actors coexist, observe and monitor each other. 

Bernard Rappaz is research associate at Edgelands Institute. He was a journalist, correspondent for Swiss public television in the United States before becoming editor-in-chief of the Department of Information for more than a decade. He has a particular interest in the challenges of the digital world with the creation of the RTS digital service in the early 2000s.

Peter van Agtmael © Christian Hansen
Thomas Dworzak

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