Political Communities and the Movement of Images: On Activestills' Protesting Photographs

This paper focuses on the work of the photographers collective Activestills. This non-profit collective numbers a dozen photographers – Israeli, Palestinian, and international – working in Israel/Palestine since 2005. It argues that Activestills' photographs acquire their political currency and meaning not simply because they document protesting communities and acts of military and state violence that are inflicted on them. Their power resides not only in what is seen in them, but also in their operative mode of transmission, circulation and dissemination through which the photographs take part in the continuous mobilization and propagation of political struggles.