Peace TV: Alex Majoli

A critical look at the multimedia project done by Alex Majoli presented on Magnum Motion.

(see link)

By Alex Majoli. Pakistan. Peshawar. 2008. TV shots from Peace TV. Audience of a TV program where an Imam is answering questions about Islam and Quran.

Alex Majoli, born 1971 in Ravenna, Italy, joined Magnum Photos, one of the worlds most well respected and prestigious photographic agency as a full member in 2001. Alex Majoli work ranges from war torn countries, to the privileged decadent lifestyles of the New York fashion scene.

Alex Majoli presents on Magnum Photo a multimedia project on Peace TV. The well-respected scholar Dr. Zakir Naik front’s Peace TV, a satellite TV channel, based in Mumbai, India. The channel is well known for his debate on faith and conveying its message of peace. Alex Majoli took portraits of audience members on a particular Peace TV programme where the Imam was answering questions about Islam and the Quran.

The video is about one and a half minutes, and begins with TV interference and sound of static then brings on images of men watching something in a distance, with Quranic recitation in the background. The Quranic sentence fades off in mid sentence.

More static images with similar images of men, with a preacher lecturing in the background: “the more we implement Islam the more happy we will be, and the more at peace we will be”, then a women voice come on to take the declaration of faith, as she is clearly converting to Islam.

The piece carries on with many more images of men and the Adan (call to prayer) in the background and people repeating the declaration of faith, in a group, after the imam. This may indicate a group of people converting.

The preachers voice comes on: “The creator must be something without a creator, without a beginning, without an end, the ever lasting, there can not be two creators, how can there be two creators? If there were two creators the world would end, the universe wouldn’t exist and there would be confusion it would be chaos”.

This then leads to Imam Abdul Rahman Al-Sudais, the world-leading Imam and reciter of the Quran, reading a section of a verse, from the middle somewhere and not even finishing the verse.

More static leads to a preacher saying: “Why am I here? What is it for? What is the reason for my existence? What is the purpose of my life?”

Leads to more recitation of the Quran, static and the end to the video.

The immediate questions that came to mind after viewing the video are, what is the purpose of this piece of work? What was the photographer trying to achieve? What are the motivation, inspiration and need for this work? In other words what is the message of this piece?

To provide a balanced argument, both Peace TV and the photographer have been contacted, to give comment on the work. Alex Majoli gave comment on his work, but Peace TV has not been forth coming.

On immediate viewing of the Peace TV project, the work is ambiguous, with no clear thread, it’s not clear what the piece is trying to convey. After viewing it, one is left with the thought, ‘What was that?’. To make sure this reaction wasn’t limited to an individual, it was shown to several people, nearly all had similar initial reaction. Perhaps that is the aim of the work, presenting Islam as unclear and ambiguous, maybe even going as far as to say the photographer wanted to give the message of the misunderstood religion.

However on interview with Majoli, he makes it absolutely clear that there was no agenda to his work, he comments, “No message at all, really simple, just photographing what people looking at listening, watching, no politics, just really simple”. The photographer explained that he was in Pakistan covering a story, on some social unrest, and he was in his hotel room turned on the TV and happen to come across Peace TV, and just without thought, he picked up his camera and shot images from the screen. The work was in style with his pervious work on the ‘One Vote’ he did in the states.

When questioned to his style of photography, he commented: “I shot what was on screen, Peace TV camera focused on its audience in that manner, and I just took the pictures, this is an artistic piece of work with no agenda at all. It is what it is, just series f images of shots, that is all, could be the same for BBC, CNN anything, I just happen to do Peace TV, I was fascinated how the camera was working, in an artistic way”.

Whilst for Majoli this may be an artistic impression of camera movement, this doesn’t come across in his presentation. Viewing the work, the way in which the images are presented brings certain connotations to mind. All the images are black and white, grainy, unclear, taken in low resolution, almost like CCTV footage played to an audience. The format the pictures were taken makes the images very sinister and negative. It’s almost like CCTV picture footage of the most wanted criminals. The audience are not smiling and all are exclusively male, even though female voices are heard. Anyone who watches Peace TV will know, that female members of the audience are shown on TV, so why had the photographer only shown men? Could it be that, terrorism usually had strong male figures and plays right into cynicism of Islam, terrorism and criminality.

This idea is supported by a research produced by Cardiff University entitled ‘Images of Islam in the UK’. They conclude their report by saying “The widespread use of mug shots and images of Muslims outside police station and law courts is very much in keeping with the high proportion of terrorism related stories about British Muslims… and men are more visible than Muslim women” (Moore K. , Mason P. and Lewis J. July 2008)

The aim of Peace TV is to have an open dialogue with the world and other faiths and to bring greater understanding of Islam to its audience. Islam means ‘peace’, yet viewing this video, that message hardly comes across.

This works brings a lot of questions to the forefront, why are certain sounds, speeches, Quranic verse used, why has the author chose to present the images in this way. Was Peace TV involved in this project? What are their views? Do they share similar sentiments of this essay?

From the interview with the author, it is understood that this work wasn’t done in collaboration with Peace TV, but as Majoli said, it was just a spontaneous reaction, and not pre planned. However, later on this work wasn’t put together with Peace TV or anyone with experience of the Muslim community. Furthermore the sound bites wasn’t used from the TV programme, rather collected from different location on the Internet. Therefore there was not link between sound and images.

By Charles Porter's photograph of firefighter Chris Fields holding the dying infant Baylee Almon won the Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography in 1996.

There is an interesting dichotomy within the project, whilst the essay argued there are a lot of ambiguity as to the aim, motivation and message of the work, the other side to the argument is there is no ambiguity. It is playing to the attitude, views and belief held of the majority and further fuelling the current media imagery of Islam. For example, the famous picture of a fireman carrying an injured child after the Oklahoma bombing, with the headline ‘In the Name of Islam’, turned out to be a fanatical Christian, one of its ‘own’, so to speak. This was within hours of the atrocious bombing, and immediately for the western world, such an act must be Muslims and their faith. Whilst that turned out to be totally wrong, yet there was no retraction of the words in any such manner, this was long before we had 9/11.

A recent YouGov poll, found that 58% of the British population surveyed associated Islam with extremism, 50% associate it with terrorism and 68% feel the religion encourages the repression of women.(see link)

Advertising campaign 'Inspired by Muhammad'

To counteract such feeling amongst the British population, the ‘Inspired by Muhammad’ campaign began in the past few weeks. The aim is to promote Islam as a faith, which contributes positively to British society. Posters of Muslims with captions like: ‘I believe in rights for women… so did Muhammad’ ‘I believe in social justice… so did Muhammad’, ‘I believe in protecting the environment… so did Muhammad’ will feature at bus stops, Tube stations and on London cabs.

This is one of the first time Muslims, are using images to counteract negative images of themselves.  TV presenter and convert to Islam, Kristiane Backer, one of the faces of the campaign, said: ”This negative image is the reason for the need of a campaign, the reason for coming out with some positive news, reflecting the truth and showing what Islam is about. Values of compassion, peace, mercy, women’s rights, social justice – these are all part of Islam. We’re just trying to focus on some of those values, some of those messages that reflect the true Islam of mainstream Muslims.”(see link)

Ed Hussian, famous for his book the ‘The Islamist’, further adds, “…this campaign helps refocus and rebalance the image of Islam – that the religion is not a violent one.” (see link)

What the essay has so far argued, is that, there had been overwhelming negative images associated with Islam and Muslims, and whilst the essay hasn’t explored as to the reasons why, the impact of this can not be understated.

Whilst Majoli, makes it very clear in his comments that this work is an artistic impression of the way in which camera and the audience work, and has no political motivation, agenda, or message, it is difficult to feel that way, as that isn’t immediately apparent in his presentation.

Whether the artist wishes to convey a message or not, those that are receiving the work will attach a message, agenda and motivation to it, and considering the times we are living in, there could have been a little more ethical responsibility of what one puts out there, especially if that message has the likelihood of getting confused?

The essay in the least, would have liked to closed with a dichotomy presented on Islam, but concludes, consciously or subconsciously yet another artist has added to the genre of a religion overwhelming associated with negative image.

Bibliography

Moore K. , Mason P. and Lewis J. July 2008. Images of Islam in the UK. Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies

Ramadan, Tariq. 1999. To Be a European Muslim. Leicester. Islamic Foundation.

Website: http://inmotion.magnumphotos.com/essay/peace-tv

Website: http://www.inspiredbymuhammad.com/

Interview: 17th June 2010, 2.25pm till 2.38pm , Peace TV, Majoli, Alex, (Italy via phone from London, UK)

Representation of Islam in the Media

This essay is a critical look at the way in which images of Islam is presented through the media.

This essay will be a critical look at the way in which Islam has come to be viewed through the media and the way in which that has affected attitudes, views and perceptions. It will take a primary interest in the work of Edward Said and his arguments presented in his work “Covering Islam”.

No one can deny the impact of the media on modern times, and for better or worse it dominates our life. Different ages brought different ‘hot topics’ or ‘concerns’ that dominated the news medium. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the cold war effectively over, a new focus of ‘fear’ came about, ‘Islam’ and ‘Muslims’. Present day images of Muslims and Islam vary considerably, but as most commentators agree there had been a drift of western concerns to portray Islam as the main enemy of the west, and the Muslim world as the hotbed of terrorism, that threatens Western civilisation and its democratic values. (see link) This is very similar to what Edward Said argued in his book, Covering Islam. At the heart of Said’s analysis is the notion that media coverage of Islam has closely associated Muslims with militancy, danger and anti-Western sentiment. (see link) In 1997, the Runnymede Trust, a UK-based think tank that promotes a successful multi-ethnic Britain, echoed the same idea in “Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All”.

The recent study done by Cardiff University suggested too that the coverage of British Muslims has increased significantly since 2000, peaking in 2006, and remaining at high levels in 2007 and 2008. This rise is partly explained by the increase in coverage devoted to terrorism and terrorism related stories – 36% of stories about British Muslims overall are about terrorism. This is especially notable after the terrorist attacks in the US and the UK in 2001 and 2005 (Moore 2008:3).

Whilst it is difficult to justify the fear, one has to believe that this fear is rational, it has been created from somewhere, and the debate as to why is an interesting one. From neo-imperialist arguments of an elite state wielding powers within for a greater greedy cause, a gross misuse of terminology, most notably the use of the word ‘Islamic fundamentalism’ and the associated connotations of the term, to a sheer lack of understanding of history and culture of Muslims, have fanned the fear to take hold within the ordinary westerner.

The media have become the primary focus of attention as they have come to supersed other institutions in the cultural production of knowledge (Pool 2002:41). The media play an incredible role in shaping public opinion and public policy. To paraphrase an oft-repeated maxim, the media often tell the public what and how to think about a certain issue, and stories about Islam and Muslims are not the exception. (see link)

Whilst there is an assumption that the mass media may powerfully influence public opinion, especially about foreign affairs, Said questions as to where the media derives it opinion. He demonstrates that the media gets it opinions from those academic and government “experts” to whom the media then provides a forum. In other words, the mass media has dependency on specific sources of information, principally academic and government institutions, for the knowledge the media disseminate. This is true of not only the news but also of supposedly “serious” drama, such as PBS’s presentation of Death of a princess (1).

Said analysis on the cultural images of Islam is an interesting one. He extends his arguments from his work on Orientalism (1978) and The Question of Palestine (1979), demonstrates how a centuries-old, academically produced image of the Islamic world has operated to foster Western colonialism. He further shows how such negative imagery, repeated in media news, drama, and advertising, operates to justify U.S. hegemonic claims on Arab lands. Said’s, work covering the siege of the US embassy in Iran, argued the reporting of the siege, had no social/historical context given, which resulted in the perceptions that Muslims Terrorists were holding the US to hostage. “Very little of the detail, the human density, the passion of Arab-Muslim life has entered the awareness of even those people whose profession it is to report the Islamic world.” (Said 1997:26).

Said argued that through ignorance, cultural hostility and racial hatred that Islam wasn’t allowed to be known, it was covered up, yet it was the media that formed the ‘cultural apparatus’ that Europeans and Americans derive their consciousness of Islam (Said 1981: 43). Similarly the study by Cardiff University showed the visuals used indicated the focus on cultural/religious differences, with Muslims seen engaged in religious practice in a way non-Muslims rarely are, and Muslims simply identified as Muslims rather than as individuals or particular groups with distinct identities (Moore 2008: 4). Said argued the images put out served the interests of government and businesses. In other words he argued “certain interests underlie the interpretation of other cultures and promote the institutionalization of certain interpretations as ‘knowledge’ ”. (see link) Therefore the success of the images, are not in their accuracy, but in the power of those that print them out, which is hardly challenged. This type of reporting was evident in the gulf war, and the reporting of the 9/11 incidents on 2001. Thus, Said argued that all knowledge is partial, interpretive, and vulnerable to influence from powerful institutions. In terms of the modern reporting of British Muslims, stories were written to emphasise their newsworthy elements to such an extent that the original facts quickly became obscured in a tide of outrage and condemnation. Moore’s team argued, “decontextualisation, misinformation and a preferred discourse of threat, fear and danger, while not uniformly present, were strong forces in the reporting of British Muslims in the UK national press” (Moore 2008:3).

A British Veil, By Peter Sanders. Eleanor, British, actress, mother and Muslim. Footnote. This picture was exhibited at Alexandra Palace in North London. Two women were overheard speaking, and one said to the other, "It's yer 'elena Bonham-Carter." I wondered what the famous actress would make of this!

Right: Number One, Peter Sanders. No 1 Savile Row is the imposing address of Gieves and Hawkes, London's famous bespoke tailor. Established in 1771, the firm was awarded its first Royal Warrant of Appointment in 1809 from King George III, and has a history of two centuries of service to successive monarchs. Here, Manager Dilwar Hussein measures up a client in the fitting room. Left: When Worlds Meet Beautician and make-up artist Karimah from Essex prepares the face of model Tanya McKnight.

As Moore et al’s (2008) work has very well highlighted, there seems an uncertainty amongst both Muslims and non-Muslims in Britain about Islam. To counteract this, the government funded through its social Cohesion Programme, the ‘Art of Integration’ Project. A very well known Muslim photographer, Peter Sanders, travelled around Britain to take pictures of Muslims to show that there was no ‘them’ and ‘us’ rather Britain was an integrated society. The cover picture of his book had a white face with a Union Jack hijab on her. The pictures included ordinary and successful Muslims in every day situations going about their business. The question then is did these images come to change the mind of ordinary Brit? Has it even had an impact? Why did the government support this project, was it trying to change the image of Islam, or was it showing to Muslims, the more acceptable way to integrate? To be part of ‘our’ culture, then this is the way to be. The Pictures are pretty, with little or no controversy, neither set in any challenging situations. As Said argued, certain interests underlie interpretations, so what is the interest here? And what is the knowledge created here? Is this Said’s ‘cultural apparatus’ being used to derive the Muslim consciousness?

Inspired by Muhammad Project.

Another recent media campaign done was the ‘Inspired by Muhammed’ project. Using posters on buses, taxis, tubes etc, the ‘Inspired by Muhammad’ campaign has tried to improve the public understanding of Islam and Muslims. It showcases Britons demonstrating how Muhammad inspires them to contribute to society, with a focus on women’s rights, social justice and the environment. (see link) The posters are simple, one liners, showing the humanistic values of Islam. This campaign is an interesting one, similar to Sanders work, its uses photographs of ordinary people, with simple oneliners as to show how Muslims contribute to Britain, but perhaps more importantly contribute with values that doesn’t compromise or even conflict with the British Values. Again similar questions, as to Sanders work can be raised. Why is a project like that needed? Is it not a basic understanding that, whatever religion one maybe in, there is a similar thread of humanism within it? Yet a campaign as simple as this is needed? This perhaps brings to the forefront, the level of misunderstanding people have, towards Islam, and a simple, almost dare say patronising campaign of how Islam and its universal humanistic value needs to be highlight.

This essay has attempted to look at in to the subject to the media in its role in reporting Islam. This is a huge area, with numerous threads of arguments. It tried to take a broad overview, in line with the work of Edward Said. It found that there is a massive misunderstanding of Islam, and through the social-political scene of the latter part of this century Islam has come to be demonised in a manner that is unjust. The media has played a huge role in this, but more so by those that control knowledge and have an influence on the power of information, that wield the agenda they set forward. Some projects such as the ‘Art of Integration’ and the ‘Inspired by Muhammed’ campaign have been done, but these projects raise a lot of questions, and ultimately one is dubious of the intention and impact of its work. Considering the damage done to the image of Islam, it maybe many years to come before we see this image change, unless of course the western political agenda changes, and a different age brings a different ‘hot topics’ or ‘concerns’ that dominated the news medium.

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