The speakers of the evening will address the influence of photographic and visual data as well as the role of algorithms in shaping the collective social narratives and public opinion of women and marginalised youth in the Netherlands. The spotlighted projects demonstrate the gap in representation on one hand, and on the other present tools and much needed research for bridging it. Which stories are left out or misrepresented? How can code and photographic/visual data collections, in which discrimination is often inbuilt, be emancipated from bias and colonial narratives? Perhaps, these very media can be used for building counter-narratives?

The evening will kick off with the introduction by Dr. Natalie Dixon, Klasien van de Zandschulp, and Babusi Nyoni – part of the team behind affect lab’s project How to Tell a Herstory (2021- ongoing). This is a research-driven online platform introducing a Herstory tool that invites the public to upload photographs sourced from their family photo albums, and become a storyteller during free workshop sessions. The tool analyses photographs using machine learning techniques and then prompts participants to create a herstory— a narrative about women, to witness and celebrate their experiences.The completed herstory is a visual essay with text, photos, annotations and voice notes. The project aims to collectively re-write histories of women, and specifically of those who have been excluded from the narratives about migration. Artificial intelligence assists the storyteller in seeing, talking through, and changing familiar power and gender structures as often represented in vernacular photographic images.

Photographer Cigdem Yuksel will present her project Moslima (2021-ongoing), produced in collaboration with Prospektor. This ongoing project derives from an extensive study of over 4,000 photographs of Muslim women in the Dutch ANP photo bank (as well as associated captions and tags) that reveal their stereotypical representations, constructed by photographers and media corporations. Yuksel aims to re-shape the collective visual memory in the Netherlands when it comes to the representation of Muslim women, making an alternative archive with her portrayal of first generation Turkish women.

Filmmaker Nirit Peled will introduce her extensive investigative research into the development of crime prevention algorithms in Amsterdam. Peled converts information, which is otherwise invisible, or simply incomprehensible, into narratives and images. Through her forthcoming documentary film Moeders and performative lecture Off the Record she offers a vivid account of the lived experiences and emotions of mothers whose sons have been impacted by algorithmic policing. 

The event will be concluded by a round table discussion, moderated by Dr. Natalie Dixon.

How to Tell a Herstory was created by affect lab in collaboration with technologist Babusi Nyoni, the Voorkamer, designer Lisa van Kleef, workshop leader and artist Ebru Aydin with ongoing curatorial support from curator Daria Tuminas at FOTODOK. 

Curated by: affect lab
Organised by: FOTODOK and IMPAKT Centre for Media Culture
Visual identity: HTTAH