How Photography Frames our Perceptions, with Katie Knight

Sponsored by Humanities Montana

This presentation and discussion of nearly 100 photographs, from early experiments through contemporary media, provides a lens for understanding our history, identity, values, aesthetics, media, and politics. Soon after photography was invented in 1839, lower cost portraits became available and painters were liberated from the demands of realistic representation. Photographs quickly began to communicate and construct our sense of who we are and how we want to be seen. Exploring the world and social issues, documentary photographers created visual narratives that have impacted the collective conscience and national policies. The power of photography is skillfully exploited by marketing campaigns that stimulate desires for products and candidates. At the same time, photography can be seen as an increasingly popular folk art practiced by millions of people who use cameras to narrate life stories that focus on what we value, remember, and want to share.

Photographer, artist and educator Katie Knight earned a Master of Fine Arts in visual art from the University of Minnesota and teaches art at Carroll College and Capital High School in Helena. Her documentary projects have taken her to war zones in southern Africa and Latin America, and her exhibition on the crisis in Colombia toured Montana. Knight was awarded the Montana Human Rights Network 2008 Walt Brown Award, the Montana Amnesty International 2008 Award, and the Jacob K. Javits Scholarship. Her photographs and essays are published in books, magazines, and on websites.